July 26, 2004
Dear Ministers,
The United States and Canada, including the State of Montana and the Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, have a long history of cooperation and consultation related to management of the region in and around Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. This cooperation dates back to the establishment of Waterton-Glacier as the world’s first international peace park in 1932.
British Columbia’s recent posting for public auction of coalbed methane leases on August 25 has prompted additional discussions between Montana and British Columbia. Through these discussions, we have learned of differing approaches between the state and province toward planning and assessment.
Montana’s interest is that any activities related to CBM in this transboundary region, including the Flathead and Kootenay watersheds, do not adversely impact the downstream waters, wildlife, communities and economies of Montana.
In a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell, the State of Montana has requested establishment of a joint U.S.-Canadian review panel, potentially through the International Joint Commission, to conduct a full environmental baseline analysis and prepare a comprehensive environmental and socio-economic assessment. We have asked Premier Campbell to defer any actions on coalbed methane projects until a comprehensive assessment is completed. In this, we join with such diverse interests as the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, Senators Conrad Burns and Max Baucus, Representative Dennis Rehberg and the inter-agency Flathead Basin Commission, among others.
In our recent consultation with British Columbia, they have indicated that the successful bidder on this CBM sale will be responsible for addressing environmental concerns and stakeholder consultations. However, our concern is that ground-disturbing activities and wastewater discharge is likely to commence before an environmental baseline is established and before a comprehensive assessment is completed.
Further, we believe that in the event that different companies win the tenures on the different parcels offered for sale now and in the future, the opportunity for a comprehensive assessment would be lost. Further, the vesting of private property rights in these currently public resources will unnecessarily complicate any future assessment.
Now is the time to evaluate the various development alternatives in the East Kootenay coal fields, including the full field development of 21 TCF that British Columbia has identified as a preferred scenario. This assessment also might include the federal Dominion Coal Block, which is located between the two parcels currently up for auction by British Columbia.
This is similar to the approach taken in the United States. On the Lewis and Clark National Forest, for example, the U.S. Forest Service conducted a programmatic environmental assessment prior to a decision about oil and gas leasing on hundreds of thousands of acres along the Rocky Mountain Front.
We note that federal land-management agencies in the United States should also be directly engaged in a similar assessment for potential coalbed methane development in the transboundary watersheds on our northern border with British Columbia, since the federal government is the majority land owner in both the Flathead and Kootenay basins in Montana.
Although we continue to support the establishment of an environmental review panel through the International Joint Commission, we also recognize an opportunity for the two ministries that you represent to initiate a federal environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. In particular, we cite Section 47 of this Act, which allows a foreign state or a subdivision thereof (i.e., the State of Montana) to initiate this reference through a request to the Canadian Minister of Environment. That is our intention with this letter. We further note that the Environmental Assessment act indicates that such an assessment “will be carried out as early as practicable in the planning stages of those projects.”
We request that the Canadian federal and provincial governments defer the August 25 auction of CBM tenures and any ground-disturbing activities and wastewater discharge until such time as a complete environmental baseline is established and a comprehensive assessment completed through a joint review panel involving technical experts and resource scientists representing both nations.
Feel free to contact my Natural Resource Policy Advisor, Todd O’Hair at (406) 444-5554 or Jan Sensibaugh, Director of the Department of Environmental Quality at (406) 444-6815.
Sincerely,
JUDY MARTZ
Governor
cc: Premier Gordon Campbell
Secretary of State Colin Powell
Sen. Conrad Burns
Sen. Max Baucus
Rep. Dennis Rehberg