From the Wednesday, January 26, 2005 issue of the Missoulian . . .
A renewed plan to mine Canadian coal in the headwaters of Montana's North Fork Flathead River caught state officials by surprise Tuesday, and appeared certain to set off another round of international debate.
"This is a critically hot issue," said Rick Moy, chief of Montana's water management bureau and member of the Flathead Basin Commission. "No one in Montana was notified. I'm very surprised, and actually very disappointed. British Columbia knows Montana's concerns; we've made it so clear. For them to do this again without even notifying us, I'm very disappointed."
Moy's surprise and disappointment center on a mining exploration permit granted - quietly - in November to Cline Mining Corp.
Last April, Cline made Montana headlines with its plan to mine coal north of Glacier National Park, near the headwaters of the Flathead River system.
The company's request for an exploratory permit immediately ran into stiff bipartisan opposition south of the border.
This time, however, the permit was granted before opponents even knew the request had been made.
Read the entire article . . .
Posted by nfpa at January 26, 2005 01:28 PM