North Fork of Flathead on American Rivers, B.C. endangered-rivers lists
Posted April 12, 2008—Threats from proposed mining operations north of the border have resulted in the North Fork of the Flathead River, and the Flathead River as it’s called in British Columbia, being put on two separate endangered-rivers lists.
Says a press release from American Rivers: “The Wild and Scenic North Fork of the Flathead River is a magical place of exceptional wilderness value that has seen only limited development. In the United States, the North Fork is one of the best-protected watersheds in the country. But the river remains unprotected where it originates in British Columbia. ... The U.S. State Department must keep President Obama’s campaign commitment to oppose mining in the headwaters of the North Fork.”
American Rivers, its Web site says, “is the leading national organization standing up for healthy rivers. ... Founded in 1973, American Rivers has more than 65,000 members and supporters nationwide.”
The North Fork of the Flathead ranks fifth on American Rivers’ 23rd-annual list of America’s most endangered rivers. No. 1 is the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system in California.
Meanwhile, the Flathead River tops the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia’s most endangered rivers list for 2009, according to a news release from the ORCBC.
“[W]hile the U.S. section is protected,” the press release says, “the B.C. stretch faces a number of threats, the most prominent being the proposed Cline open pit coal mine. Given the size and location of the mine in the river’s headwaters, water quality would be impacted and recreational, wildlife and wilderness values would be greatly compromised.”
For more, see CNN’s Web site. To view some really scary photos of an open-pit coal mine, click here.
Flathead River Basin excluded from proposed coal-bed methane project
Posted Dec. 8, 2008—In a piece of good news for the North Fork, the Flathead River Basin has been excluded from the project area of a planned coal-bed methane drilling operation in southeastern British Columbia, reports the Associated Press’ Susan Gallagher in the Dec. 6 Daily Inter Lake.
On Dec. 5, British Columbia granted rights to BP (British Petroleum) Canada Energy Co. for its proposed coal-bed methane project—after the Flathead River Basin was removed from the project area, reports Gallagher. “In the debate about possible environmental effects from Mist Mountain coal-bed methane work, the border-spanning Flathead had been particularly prominent, with activists in Montana raising the specter of harm traveling downstream,” writes Gallagher.
The Flathead River in Canada becomes the North Fork of the Flathead River in Montana. Critics on both sides of the border have been concerned about the potentially disastrous environmental effects of BP’s proposed drilling operation. The procedure involves forcing the methane out of the ground with water. In the process, the water picks up contaminants such as barium, copper, iron and ammonium.
“If BP eventually extracts coal-bed methane,” reports Gallagher, “the province will require water brought forth in that work be injected underground, not disposed of on the ground’s surface, Richard Neufeld, British Columbia’s minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources [said].”
Wildsight, an environmental group with an an office in Fernie, British Columbia, and Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane, based in Fernie, have been active in fighting proposed mining operations in southeastern British Columbia—the last undeveloped Canadian valley bordering the United States. |
Glacier National Park map of the Flathead River watershed; for a larger version, click here. For maps with overlays of minerals and proposed mining areas, go to the Flathead Basin Commission map page. Maps load slowly.
Summary of Canadian mining news, 2007-2008
Compiled May 19, 2008—Here is a synopsis, with links, to news stories about proposed mining operations north of the border and on the North Fork:
Fernie, B.C., protests BP plans
The Fernie, British Columbia, City Council on April 14, 2008, passed a resolution strongly protesting BP (British Petroleum) Canada’s plans to drill for coal-bed methane gas in the Crowsnest Coalfield, which partly drains into the Flathead River.
To view video footage of a street protest in Fernie, go to YouTube.
Senators seek end to oil, gas leases
Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are supporting a Flathead Basin Commission resolution to retire decades-old oil and gas leases in the Flathead National Forest, reports Chris Peterson in the March 27, 2008, Hungry Horse News.
The leases were granted in the 1970s, but a lawsuit in the 1980s put them on hold, and the lease holders have not pursued them since. See the March 20 Hungry Horse News.
BP reneges on promise not to drill Despite an announcement that it had dropped plans to explore for coal-bed methane gas in the Canadian Flathead, BP (British Petroleum) Canada Energy Co. intends to drill anyway, reports Michael Jamison in the Feb. 28, 2008, Missoulian.
Also see later BP story, at left.
BP drilling threatens Kootenai basin Pollution from coal-bed methane wastewater would continue to pose a threat to the Elk River and downstream into Lake Koocanusa and Montana’s Kootenai basin,” reports Jim Mann in the Feb. 22, 2008, Daily Inter Lake.
Meanwhile, reports Mann, the fight continues to stop Cline Mining Corp. of Sudbury, Ontario, from establishing an open-pit coal mine on the Canadian Flathead.
Canada vows review of mine plans An Associated Press story in the Jan. 15, 2008, Flathead Beacon indicates that neither the Cline Mining Co.’s open-pit coal mine nor BP Canada Energy Co.’s coal-bed methane drilling proposals are done deals:
“British Columbia officials reiterated the projects have not begun clearing regulatory hurdles,” writes the AP’s Matt Gouras.
Fight against mines bilateral British Columbia’s independent daily online news magazine The Tyee gives a good historical rundown of Canadians’ and Montanans’ efforts to stop environmentally rapacious mining operations in southeastern British Columbia.
The Part 1 story talks about mining interests in British Columbia. Part 2 chronicles now-stagnant efforts to establish a national park in southeastern British Columbia adjacent to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Thanks to John Frederick for these links.
Feds to fund Flathead baseline study Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have secured $885,960 in federal funds to protect the Flathead from mining activity in British Columbia, according to a Dec. 20, 2007, press release issued by Tester’s office.
B.C. biologist echoes our concerns Remarks by respected wildlife researcher John Weaver have reinforced the position of biologists on both sides of the border that mining operations in the Canadian Flathead will have dire effects on large animals that migrate through the Glacier National Park area, reports Michael Jamison in the Dec. 23, 2007, Missoulian.
BP plans huge operation According to a story by Michael Jamison in the May 31, 2007, Missoulian, BP (British Petroleum) Canada Energy Co.’s planned coal-bed methane drilling operation north of the border in British Columbia will be massive.
Also see the June 28, 2007, Daily Inter Lake story.
Battle against open-pit coal mine On April 20, 2007, reports the Flathead Basin Commission, the Montana Legislature passed a bill that will provide $300,000 for water-quality monitoring on the North Fork of the Flathead River.
On March 16, 2007, Gov. Brian Schweitzer petitioned the Canadian government to invoke the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to ensure that the EA process includes three to five years of baseline data. Schweitzer also requested that the EA be undertaken with oversight from an International Joint Commission review panel.
For news about the fight to stop the Cline mine, go to the Flathead Basin Commission’s Cline mine news page.
The mine is also being fought by Elk Valley communities in Canada.
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