It needs to be clear that the provincial government of British Columbia said "no" to Montana Governor Martz's request of a delay and an environmental review before the tenures (leases) for coalbed methane projects are let on August 25, 2004.
However, the Canadian government in the persons of the Minister of Environment Canada and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have not yet answered the letter sent by Governor Martz on July 26. (See "Gov. Martz requests Canadian federal intervention in B.C. coalbed methane development" for the text of the Governor's letter. See the second half of this article for the letter sent by the NFPA on August 12.)
Please write a letter of concern to the ministers listed below echoing what the Governor said and then fax a copy to Judy Martz and those on the carbon copy list. The time is very short.
We suggest faxing because August 25 is very near, the Canadian Ministers need immediate encouragement and there is a substantial delay for letters going to Washington, D.C. because of security reasons.
For those of you unfamiliar with Montana politics, Judy Martz is not running again for Governor. She is not using the coalbed methane issue as an election ploy but, rather, trying to do the right thing. Please read her letter carefully.
Thank you for what you can do,
The North Fork Preservation Association
The ministers to write/fax to:
The Honourable Stephane Dion
Minister, Environment Canada
Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere
10 Wellington St., 28th Floor
Hull, Quebec,
K1A 0H3
(819) 953-3457 (fax)
The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister, Foreign Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON, Canada
K1A 0G2
(613) 996-9709 (fax)
Fax numbers of officials who should be copied in:
Governor Judy Martz - (406) 444-4151
Premier Gordon Campbell - (250) 387-0087
Secretary of State Colin Powell - (202) 647-2283
Sen. Conrad Burns - (406) 257-3974
Sen. Max Baucus - (406) 756-1152
Rep. Dennis Rehberg - (202) 225-5687
The letter sent by the NFPA to Ministers Dion and Pettigrew . . .
North Fork Preservation Association
80 Beaver Drive, Polebridge, MT 59928
August 12, 2004
The Honourable Stephane Dion
Minister, Environment Canada
Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere
10 Wellington St., 28th Floor
Hull, Quebec
K1A OH3
The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister, Foreign Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
KlA OG2
Dear Ministers Dion and Pettigrew,
Many people in Montana are rightly concerned about water quality relating to cross-boundary pollution from coalbed methane in the Kootenay and Flathead drainages of British Columbia, but what does this do to the fisheries, water quality and wildlife of your country?
Wastewater produced with coalbed methane has proven to be very problematic in producing CBM basins in the United States, and current data from the only coalbed methane site in British Columbia indicates that it will be a problem for water quality and fisheries in British Columbia. The current test for the toxicity of CBM wastewater places ten rainbow trout in a container of treated wastewater. If five of the ten rainbow trout survive, then the water passes. If six rainbow die, the water fails. For the pilot project in B.C., the wastewater sometimes passes the test and sometimes fails. As you know, rainbow trout are tough fish - the native Bull Trout and Westslope Cutthroat would not fare as well as the rainbow.
Any water deemed unsuitable must be re-injected into the ground. The problem is that in the steep, rocky valleys of B.C., this will not work - the highly fracture coal geology prevents the water from staying where it is re-injected. Therefore, it must be released to the environment.
Discharged water may contain high levels of chloride, bicarbonate, sodium, ammonia, selenium and iron, a high pH and no oxygen. Fish and the aquatic insects upon which they often feed don't have tolerance for these elements in their aquatic environment. Ammonium is known to be lethal to fish at the levels at which it is present in coalbed methane wastewater.
Also, in order to get at the methane, the aquifer must be pumped dry for perhaps two years to allow the methane to flow. Each well will pump 20 to 200 gallons per minute. What does this do to the water table? Is the land going to sink?
On July 8, B.C. posted two tenures for coalbed methane exploration with a total of 20,000 hectares (49,400 acres). The National Post Backlash Opinion Column of August 4 has an article on coalbed methane which says: "Land disturbance is mostly confined to postage-stamp-sized drilling sites." This is certainly an understatement.
Here are conservative estimates for wells drilled in relatively flat areas (Powder River and San Juan Basin). Consider this habitat loss in a region that contains all of the large carnivore species that remain in North America., all of which are vulnerable to industrialization of their native habitat:
(from a University of Montana master's thesis by Erin Sexton, numbers directly taken from the Bureau of Land Management Draft Environmental Impact Statements for Montana, Wyoming and Colorado)
Transboundary water pollution is one very important issue, but do you know what the coalbed methane wells do to the fisheries and wildlife of your own country?
Sincerely,
John Frederick, Jr.
President, NFPA