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NemontDebate surrounds potential coal-bed methane work in British Columbia
By Susan Gallagher
Associated Press Writer
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AP PHOTO
David Thomas, a member of the Fernie City Council and a critic of potential coal-bed methane development in the area, pauses recently at Coal Creek near Fernie, B.C.
FERNIE, British Columbia -- Coal mining created this town in 1904. But a century later, talk of tapping southeastern British Columbia coal fields for natural gas is raising alarm here and next door in Montana.
Some Fernie leaders worry the new coal-bed methane industry could harm the environment, threatening the town's growing identity as a Rocky Mountain ski and summer destination. To the south, Montana is apprehensive about water quality in the Flathead River system, which flows from British Columbia into Montana. The North Fork of the Flathead forms the western boundary of Glacier National Park.
"What's emerging is a coalition concerned about the crown of the continent," said David Thomas, a member of the Fernie City Council. "We are under assault."
With five open-pit coal mines operating just north of Fernie, population 5,500, the town is in major coal country. But opposition arose in the community and in Montana when a Canadian company proposed opening a new coal mine close to the border, just six miles north of Glacier. Provincial officials blocked that project in May.
With the mine snuffed, attention has turned to the prospect of extracting natural gas from coal seams.
The process that turns ancient plant material into coal also produces methane gas, which is trapped underground in the coal seams. Drilling can release that methane gas, but it also produces water that usually is trapped with the gas.
Coal-bed methane is a growth industry in the United States. But a contentious issue has been how to handle the large volumes of water. The water often is very salty.
Some farmers and ranchers in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming, one of the most active areas of coal-bed methane development, contend the water is unfit for their livestock or crops and fear it could contaminate groundwater. Conservation groups in the United States have filed a number of lawsuits attempting to block plans for expanded development in the basin.
Officials and residents of Fernie share many of the concerns of their American counterparts.
"Our concern is that the government is woefully unprepared to address the impacts that coal-bed methane may have on our community or our province," said Fernie Mayor Randal Macnair. "We're not saying no to coal-bed methane. We're saying, 'Figure it out and do it right."'
The province's minister of energy and mines, Richard Neufeld, said regulators are proceeding cautiously. Misinformation has contributed to concern in Fernie, Neufeld said.
"People took the worst-case scenarios that took place in the United States when they started developing coal-bed methane" about 20 years ago, he said. "We are learning from those mistakes so we don't make them again."
Fernie likes to study things, said Martin Brock, a candy store owner who moved here to escape the congestion in Vancouver.
He said he is not firmly opposed to coal-bed methane development, but wants to make sure it doesn't harm the area environment or water quality.
"One of the reasons I love Fernie so much is the water," Brock said. "It would be a tragedy to see anything happen to our water, here or going south."
A 1909 U.S.-Canada treaty prohibits either country from polluting water in a way that affects the other.
In Montana, even pro-industry Gov. Judy Martz is concerned about potential industrial activity in British Columbia.
"The Flathead River Basin in the United States has received more protection for its natural amenities than any other area in the continental United States," Martz wrote Premier Gordon Campbell in May.
She joined the Montana-based Flathead Basin Commission in requesting that a binational organization, working to prevent and resolve disputes under the 1909 treaty, study the cumulative effects of coal-bed methane extraction and the mine that was subsequently canceled.
"The mine was the first and most imminent threat," said Barrett Kaiser, a spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. "Now we'll start working on a common-sense solution to coal-bed methane."
In Montana, officials worry coal-bed methane projects in British Columbia may harm one of the state's most popular places, the scenic Flathead Valley. It is the home base of river guide Bob Jordan, who takes clients on raft trips down the North Fork of the Flathead.
"They come to fish and leave with a sense of undisturbed land," Jordan said. "The image they come away with is that this is as wild a country as they've ever seen in the United States."
The Flathead region that sprawls across the U.S-Canada border supports interior North America's highest density of grizzly bears, and includes about 100,000 Canadian acres identified for possible expansion of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
The government of British Columbia describes the oil and gas sector as "one of the stars of the provincial economy," touts a "streamlined regulatory environment" to encourage growth and has taken measures to stimulate development of coal-bed methane.
The Fernie council's Thomas finds the standards for environmental protection in British Columbia hopelessly low, saying even requirements Fernie imposed on its planned Greg Norman golf course are more rigorous.
"The way it works here is that the resource company sets the agenda," Thomas said.
He welcomes Montana's interest partly because he finds environmental regulations stronger south of the border, and believes that may influence the outcome of the debate here.
"It would be unfair for me to make any comparison," Neufeld responded. "We've had an oil and gas industry in the province for 50 years. We have stringent rules, and we are proud of our environmental record."
Some senior representatives of the provincial government will travel to Montana and discuss concerns about coal-bed methane work, Neufeld said.
Issues include possible effects on the habitats of imperiled bull trout, grizzly bears and other species if water is harmed, riverside environments altered and new roads for industrial access crisscross the land.
Meanwhile, test wells operate in the Fernie area, but Neufeld's staff said the provincial government has sold no rights to coal-bed methane in southeastern British Columbia. Unlike neighboring Alberta, the province has no commercial production.
Should the industry develop, a framework to regulate it is in place, and it includes water protection, said Shawn Robins, a spokesman for Neufeld. Provincial and local officials have been asked for comment, to determine which caveats should be attached to licenses, he added.
Fernie officials worry that streamlining, coupled with the province's need for revenue to help fund public services and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, will help the coal-bed methane industry take off prematurely.
"They want the (royalty) cash and they want it bad," Thomas said.
Neufeld said the need to fund future services is obvious, but added the provincial budget is balanced and money for the Olympics will come from many levels, not just the province.
In environmental oversight, "we don't cut corners," he said. "We brag about a streamlined regulatory system. We streamlined it to make it work better for both parties."
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