Legislature debates North Fork research funds

By MIKE RICHESON and AMY MAY - Bigfork Eagle

The North Fork of the Flathead River runs clean and cold out of Canada, and a Columbia Falls legislator hopes to keep it that way. Worried about the impact of a proposed open-pit coal mine 22 miles north of the British Columbia-Montana border, Rep. Doug Cordier wants the state to pay for serious studies of the area’s water quality.

The data would be used to support Montana’s argument that the Ontario-based Cline Mining Corporation’s proposed two-mile open pit coal mine 25 miles northwest of Glacier National Park threatens the purity of the North Fork of the Flathead and Flathead Lake.

So far, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s office has received more 50,000 comments on the proposed mine and its potential pollution.

Cordier, a Democrat, is sponsoring House Bill 189, which would appropriate $308,000 so the Flathead Basin Commission can monitor water quality and gather “baseline” data over the next two years.

The legislature currently has $300,000 of unappropriated money in House Bill 7 for the research. Cordier is hoping that someone in Appropriations moves to designate the money specifically for the Flathead Basin Commission.

“It’s critical to establish baseline data,” Cordier said. “The issue regarding baseline data is if we don’t do this, we don’t have a comprehensive set of data. Then it’s going to be difficult to prove to the Canadian government that we take this seriously. How in the world can we effectively make a case for possible pollutants if we don’t have a comprehensive set of data that looks at all the different forms of contaminants?”

The bill was heard by the House Appropriation Committee on Jan. 18, but the committee has yet to make a recommendation on the idea.

Rich Moy, chief of the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s Water Management Bureau and chairman of the Flathead Basin Commission, said he worries the bill’s sluggish progress is a sign of trouble.

Finding the money for the bill is a concern for some Appropriations Committee members. As written, HB 189 would get its money from the state’s Resource Indemnity Trust, a special fund created to solve environmental problems. RIT funds are generated by Montana’s tax on coal and are intended to be used to assess and reduce the environmental impacts of coal mining, Moy said.

But after the bill was drafted, it became apparent that the RIT’s funds may run out before getting to HB 189.

In response, some representatives have suggested alternative financing for the project. Rep. Craig Witte, R-Kalispell, recently recommended adding $100,000 to the DNRC’s budget. That funding would be used by the Montana University System to collect the water data.

Meanwhile, Rep. Janna Taylor, R-Dayton and vice chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, predicted lawmakers will find the money.

“I’m working with all the legislators from the Flathead to find funding and I’m certain that we can get this done,” she said last week.

Cordier is confident the Legislature will find the money too, but he worries that the studies may get short-changed.

“I do believe funding will be appropriated, though I am concerned that, if Appropriations starts monkeying with it, they will cut the amount,” he said.

Without all the water data, he added, it would be difficult to file a lawsuit against the Canadian government or mining operators regarding possible mining pollution in the Flathead River Basin.

Cordier said that grumblings that republicans are playing partisan politics with HB 189 are likely untrue, but he said he is confused about why HB 189 can’t be a standalone bill instead of diverting the money through the DNRC.

“All the republicans and democrats agree that this study needs to be done and that money has to be appropriated for it,” Cordier said. “There are different opinions on how to do that. I don’t think that this could have been done by myself. The effort that Greg Barkus, John Brueggeman, and Dan Weinberg have given - they’ve really been great allies. And I really appreciate support of Bill Jones. He really believes in this and offered his support right away. I don’t care who gets credit.”

Cordier said his bill could prevent millions of dollars of damage to the Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake ecosystems in the future. The impacts of such damage could spread throughout the region, he warned.

“Because this area is so dependent on tourism, the economic well-being of western Montana is also at stake,” he said.

Sen. Dan Weinberg said Tuesday he had spoken with Taylor about the funds and from that conversation, he was optimistic that the funding would go through.