From the Wednesday, September 7, 2005 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
After meeting Tuesday with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer expressed optimism that the state's environmental concerns will not be ignored in regard to mining projects in the Canadian headwaters of the Flathead River.
"He's a bright guy, and he has a good understanding of what we are dealing with here," Schweitzer said of Campbell, whom he met in Vancouver, B.C. "He was unequivocal. He said he has no interest in degrading the water or the air in the Flathead basin."
For the last two years, a series of mining proposals in the Canadian Flathead has prompted concerns in Montana about potential downstream pollution that could impact water quality and fisheries, along with transboundary wildlife populations.
The Flathead Basin Commission and the Flathead Coalition -- a group formed in the 1980s to counter a Canadian mining project -- have called for a comprehensive study of existing environmental conditions in Canada. The study would provide baseline information so future impacts could be measured and mitigated.
Without baseline data, Schweitzer said, it can be difficult to prove that concentrations of sodium, for example, were not naturally occurring in a river prior to upstream mining development.
"I told Campbell that we would be more than happy to participate in a baseline study in the upper Flathead Basin," Schweitzer said. "He was amenable to that."
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