From our friends at the Flathead Coalition and Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane comes this press release concerning the failure of the coalbed methane lease auction in southeastern British Columbia . . .
Flathead Coalition
867 N. Main Street * Kalispell, Montana 59901
Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane
Box 508, Fernie V0B 1M0
For Immediate Release - August 26, 2004
Contact: Rose Schwennesen, Bigfork, MT. 406-837-2575
Ted Ralfe, Fernie, BC. 250-423-6844
David Thomas, Fernie, BC. 250-423-5034
Steve Thompson, Whitefish, MT. 406-862-6722
Industry Declines to Bid on Rights to Drill for Coalbed Methane in Transboundary Rocky Mountains
Transboundary alliance applauds industry’s “clear-sighted pragmatism”
FERNIE, British Columbia, and KALISPELL, Montana, August 26, 2004 — A cross-border coalition of property owners, businesses, tribes, recreation groups and conservationists today applauded oil and gas companies for declining to bid in a controversial auction of methane drilling rights in the Flathead and Elk watersheds along the Montana-British Columbia border.
There were “NO BIDS” for the two drilling leases, one covering the headwaters of the Flathead River and the other draining into tributaries of the Elk River, according to results posted today by the Province of British Columbia.
A Montana-British Columbia alliance of community groups today thanked Canadian and multinational energy companies for refusing to participate in the license auction. Members of the alliance had met with oil and gas executives to ask that they refrain from competing for rights to gas beneath the ecologically rich Rocky Mountain lands north of the boundary between British Columbia and Montana. The alliance urged the companies to desist until there has been a comprehensive and credible assessment of the cumulative effects coalbed methane drilling would have on the wildlife, water and air shared by Canadian and the United States.
“We met with them and asked them not to get involved in this contentious issue, and they have responded positively to our request,” says Rose Schwennesen, a Bigfork Realtor and vice president of the Montana-based Flathead Coalition. “We applaud the companies for their clear-sighted pragmatism.”
The alliance of community groups, along with Montana Governor Judy Martz, the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and Fernie City Council, had repeatedly requested a comprehensive environmental and economic impact analysis prior to sale of coalbed methane drilling rights.
Ted Ralfe, spokesman for the Fernie-based Citizens Concerned about Coalbed Methane, said that the cross-border alliance will continue to work together to protect the water, wildlife and wildlands of the transboundary Rockies.
“We don’t want to have this same fight three years from now,” Ralfe said. “We don’t want to have another battle over open-pit coal mining next to Glacier National Park ten years from now. We’ve developed some wonderful working relationships and friendships, so let’s continue together towards permanent protection of the values that make this such a special place to live on both sides of the border.”
Ralfe says the alliance looks forward to working with the Canadian subsidiary of Royal Dutch/Shell on a separate exploratory drilling project for lands between Fernie and Sparwood owned by Elk Valley Coal Company. “We want the same comprehensive watershed assessment and environmental baseline studies that we’ve been requesting for the lease blocks,” he said. “Whether it’s private land or public land, the water flows into the same transboundary river system. We fully expect Shell to work constructively with our communities to do this right.”
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