Gov. visits to express worry about coal mine north of Glacier

Hungry Horse News

Gov. Brian Schweitzer voiced his concern last week about the lack of communication with Canada concerning the proposed open pit coal mine planned near the headwaters of the Flathead River.

The Cline Mining Corp. has plans for an open pit coal mine near Foisey Creek, a well known spawning ground for native Montana fish.

At the annual meeting of the Flathead Coalition last Wednesday in Kalispell, Schweitzer called for a meeting with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell to discuss the situation, saying that only after lines of communication are established can problems be rectified.

A face to face meeting at the site of the plant is what Schweitzer mentioned specifically, saying that such a development would be a key negotiating point, helping him visualize the impact of placing a coal producing facility in the remote area. In return, Schweitzer said, he would bring Campbell to Montana to show him the area that would be directly impacted by such a mine across the border.

"Let him show me what they have in mind," he said. "Then let me show him the crown jewel of the entire continent."

He was confident that both Canadian and American citizens would oppose construction on the site, but said both must be engaged in the discussion to understand what is going on and why.

"If the people of British Columbia knew what was going on, they would do the right thing," he said.

Part of Montana's problem with the proposal, Schweitzer noted, is simply that there has been no information disseminated by Canada as to the possible effects of the runoff from the mine on the Flathead.

"We're not asking for a lot," Schweitzer said. "We're asking for a baseline study. We want to know what's in (the runoff.)"

In his address to the coalition, Schweitzer also presented a letter he sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in which he documented the current situation and asked for her action in helping block the production of a coal mine or methane coal bed facility.

Jack Stanford, the director of University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station, also addressed the coalition, saying that Schweitzer's statements were on target.

"I surely like what he had to say," Stanford said. "The focus should be on the mining activity up on the North Fork. It seems like this thing never wants to go away."

Stanford has conducted studies on water quality in British Columbia near the planned mining site and said that the water trapped underground that would be released in the mining process is inherently different than the flowing water already present above ground.

"There is no way the water in the coal seams can be like the water on the surface," he said. "It's full of heavy metals."

Stanford questioned the motives of the coal developers, saying that it's possible that steel, and not energy, is the main goal of the mine.

Thanks to a fairly new Japanese technology, high-quality steel can be produced from coal deposits such as the one near Fernie, and Stanford hinted that this could be one of the driving forces behind the implementation of the mine.

"There may be a lot more to this story that we aren't hearing yet," he said.

Stanford pointed to Montana's native fish as another debated point of the issue, saying that there is "no doubt" the bull and cutthroat trout are spawning north of the border, but countered by saying that Canadians believe it is the United States' fault the fish are endangered.

"Our fish our in big trouble because of the things that happened on our side of the border," he said.

Linear intrusion, or the infrastructure and piping that is required to start a mine, is one the things that will impact the fish and wildlife habitat the most and what concerns him initially, Stanford said.

"Anytime you've got a linear corridor, that provides a different pathway for animal migration," he said. "It makes wolves better predators."

Above all this, Stanford said, is the environmental welfare of the North Fork region. He agreed with Schweitzer and pointed to Canada, saying that "it's incumbent on them to tell us, and not us to tell them" what will be discharged in the water and what effects the mine might have on the area.