From the Tuesday, July 20, 2004 issue of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Gov. Judy Martz is asking the British Columbia government to withdraw plans to auction off leases for coal bed methane development in Elk River and Flathead basins until an environmental assessment is completed.
If the province doesn't comply, she plans to request the intervention of Canada's federal government under an obscure provision in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
"Given the extremely tight time frame for us to understand and evaluate potential impacts with respect to the Aug. 25, 2004, sale date of leases, I am exploring the possibility of asking the Canadian government to conduct an environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act prior to the sale of those leases," Martz wrote in a letter sent to British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell Monday.
Canadian officials visited Helena last week, reaffirming their plans to proceed with the Aug. 25 auction of "tenure" rights to coal fields in the Elk River basin, which leads to the transboundary Lake Koocanusa, and in the headwaters of Montana's Flathead River basin.
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