British Columbia pushes methane project without environmental study

[Ediacara]

British Columbia pushes methane project without environmental study
By JENNIFER McKEE of the Missoulian State Bureau

HELENA - Officials from British Columbia told Montana leaders Wednesday they will not study the possible environmental problems of drilling for coal-bed methane near the headwaters of the Flathead River - as Gov. Judy Martz and the state's congressional delegation have requested.

A city official from Fernie, British Columbia - which also asked the provincial government to study the methane drilling - has now asked the state of Montana to go straight to Ottawa, the seat of Canadian government, with the state's requests for an environmental study.

Earlier this month, the government of British Columbia, which borders northwest Montana, announced it was auctioning the coal-bed methane exploration rights for two parcels of land north of Glacier National Park. One of the parcels contains the headwaters of the Flathead River, which runs south into some of the most prized wildlands in Montana and the United States - Glacier National Park, its surrounding national forests and Flathead Lake.

More at the MIssoulian

[tom_paine]

1. You know, if I didn't love Montana so much I would say Martz and her

Rethuglican Bunch are getting JUST what they deserve.

See, Repigs are USED to shitting on people, not getting shat on.

I think it's a character building experience for Nazis like the current Busheviks.

But I am saddened that the land I love, Montana, is going to be poisoned.

[hatrack]

2. You took the words right out of my mouth

Or could it simply be that Martz is pissed off that Canadian companies will make money off of this instead of her campaign contributors?

[Tellurian]

3. more:

Earlier this month, the government of British Columbia, which borders northwest Montana, announced it was auctioning the coal-bed methane exploration rights for two parcels of land north of Glacier National Park. One of the parcels contains the headwaters of the Flathead River, which runs south into some of the most prized wildlands in Montana and the United States - Glacier National Park, its surrounding national forests and Flathead Lake.

The auction ends Aug. 25.

Several British Columbia officials representing the province's Ministry of Energy and Mines, its Oil and Gas Commission and Water, Land and Air Protection ministry met Wednesday with Montana leaders to discuss the state's concerns with industrial activity just over the border from sensitive lands in the United States.

Save for the Waterton Peace Park in Alberta, most of the Canadian Rockies immediately north of Glacier National Park are not federally protected in Canada.

Coal-bed methane is a kind of natural gas trapped near coal seams. In order to extract the gas, drillers must displace the groundwater holding it in place, a process that often results in large amounts of salty water being pumped to the surface.

The drilling rights currently being auctioned off do not give a company the right to proceed with commercial development, said Derek Doyle, a representative of the British Columbian Oil and Gas Commission. The rights give companies only the opportunity - and obligation - to drill exploratory wells.

This will be interesting.

[Lisa]

4. aaargh!

Alberta's getting increasingly concerned about coal-bed methane, after seeing what happened in Wyoming. Wells and roads all over the place, contaminated water -- Alberta has plenty of right-wingers, and even THEY are down on the petroleum industry these days, for hogging water and trying to circumvent environmental laws.

I guess the BC neo-cons are trying to cash in before a possible change of government next year?