Governor urges halt to methane leases

HELENA — Montana’s governor Monday urged Canadian federal officials to halt the Aug. 25 sale of coal-bed methane leases by British Columbia and order an environmental assessment.

The state is concerned the potential coal-bed methane activity by a leaseholder would harm water quality in the Flathead River system, Gov. Judy Martz wrote Canada’s environment and foreign affairs ministers. The Flathead flows into Montana from British Columbia, and the North Fork of the river forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park.

“Montana’s interest is that any activities related to CBM … do not adversely impact the downstream waters, wildlife, communities and economies of Montana,” Martz wrote. Baseline data are needed, she said.

Comment from Canadian and provincial officials after Martz sent the letter was not immediately available Monday.

The letter came two months after British Columbia blocked a coal mine that also was proposed for the southeastern area of the province and raised alarm in Montana because of water-quality issues.

Provincial Minister of Energy and Mines Richard Neufeld said in May that concerns about the mine were too great to let it proceed, but added British Columbia remained interested in developing a coal-bed methane industry in an environmentally safe manner.

Martz said discussions between the province and the state have revealed “differing approaches … toward planning and assessment.”

If not for the nearness of the Aug. 25 deadline on bids for the leases, the governor likely would not have turned to Canada’s federal officials but would have persisted in trying to persuade the province that studies are needed, said Todd O’Hair, her natural resources adviser.

Montana earlier requested that a binational commission prepare a comprehensive environmental and socio-economic assessment.

“In our recent consultation with British Columbia, they have indicated that the successful bidder … will be responsible for addressing environmental concerns,” Martz wrote.

A member of the City Council in Fernie, B.C., which is near the lease area, praised Martz’s action as a move to defend a delicate ecosystem against the effects of exploratory drilling.

“I think it’s now elevated to an international issue between Washington and Ottawa,” the council’s David Thomas said. Martz sent copies of her letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Montana’s congressional delegation.

“Given the governor’s polite request, two times, for British Columbia to take care of this itself, this appeal is justified,” Thomas said.

But a representative of Canada’s petroleum industry said that while studies produce information that may be put to many uses, demanding them before the lease sale is the wrong sequence.

The sale and exploration for coal-bed methane are necessary to determine whether there is a resource worth developing, said Mike Gatens, chairman of the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas in Calgary, Alberta. Tests over the past 20 years in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta yielded disappointing results, Gatens said.

“It’s premature to be alarmed, as some people are,” he said.

Environmental regulations in the province are stringent, and if exploration indicated the resources for a new industry, it would not be allowed to proceed without adequate studies and safeguards, he said.

In asking the Canadian government to intervene, Martz tapped a Canadian law that allows neighboring territories to request a study when there are transboundary interests. She sent the letter less than two weeks after Montana and British Columbia officials met in Helena on the coal-bed methane issue.