From the Friday, August 27, 2004 issue of the Missoulian . . .
Two controversial coalbed methane leases in British Columbia failed to attract any bidders this week, with the gas industry unanimously opting out of what was fast becoming an international incident.
"Needless to say, we are very pleased with the results of the auction," said David Thomas, a city councilman in Fernie, B.C., and a member of Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane.
Wednesday, British Columbia's government put 27 parcels of land up for auction to oil and gas companies. All but two of the leases were purchased.
The two receiving no bids were located along the international border with Montana, north of Glacier National Park and Koocanusa Reservoir.
"Obviously, we are pleased to see that development is not inevitable," said Gov. Judy Martz. "Developers must obviously recognize the need for preliminary environmental assessments before they make an investment. From Montana's standpoint, there were just too many questions as to the potential impacts from full-scale development."
For months, Martz and other downstream interests have expressed concerns that methane development in southern British Columbia might disrupt wildlife and pollute water in Montana.
British Columbia officials have repeatedly countered that methane fields would have no negative environmental impacts south of the border.
But Montana's congressional delegation remained unconvinced, as did the governor's office. They joined leaders of state, federal and tribal land-use agencies in asking British Columbia to delay the lease auction until scientific baseline data could be collected. Business and civic groups on both sides of the border also joined the call for a comprehensive study into possible cumulative effects prior to exploration.
And when British Columbia's government refused to delay the auction, the battle was taken to Ottowa, with requests that Canada's federal government intervene.
Wednesday's failed auction, however, makes such intervention unnecessary.
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