B.C. mine proposal may get 'fast track'

A Canadian mining company is poised to exploit "fast track" environmental regulations to establish a mine in the northern reaches of the Flathead River system, well before Montana's environmental concerns are ever addressed.

Cline Mining Corp. recently filed a "material change report" under Canada's securities laws, announcing plans to apply for a small-mine permit for a mining site in the Foisey Creek basin, a tributary of the North Fork of the Flathead River, by the end of this year.

Montanans concerned about mining in the Canadian Flathead had been under the impression that Cline intended to pursue a large-scale mining permit, which would require a lengthy environmental review process. The small mine permit involves far fewer requirements.

"The small-mine permit is the fast-track approach," said Steve Thompson, the Glacier field representative for the National Parks Conservation Association. "It's basically a shell game. They launch the mine, build the infrastructure under a small-mine permit, get production going and turn around and immediately begin the process for developing it into a large mine."

The small-mine permit limits extraction to 250,000 tons of coal per

year. To obtain the permit, Cline must submit an "internal" environmental review without any required public involvement process.

The process is "superficial nonsense," according to David Thomas, a Fernie City Council member and communications director for the Canadian conservation group Wildsight.

"It's very clear what the strategy is here," Thomas said. "The government is in collusion with the mining companies on this. By eliminating the need for environmental assessments for small mines, the companies can go in freely and disturb all the land they need to, and then pursue a large-scale mine."

The province's regulations for large mines do indeed require a much more involved environmental assessment process that can take up to two years to complete.

In a financial document filed with the Canadian securities agency on May 2, Cline refers to the potential for expanding its Lodgepole Mine on Foisey Creek from a small mine to a major mine. The document says that with small-mine fast-track permitting, the company intends to begin "commercial production" at the Lodgepole Mine by the end of summer 2006.

"Initial projected annual production of 250,000 tons of metallurgical coal … is expected, assuming fast track mining permits are obtained," the document states. "Additional increases of production capacity … are contemplated following first Fast Track production rates."

The same document goes on to discuss the potential for the Lodgepole Mine: "Favorable geological conditions at Lodgepole indicate a projected future production rate potential of 2 to 3 million tons of clean coal annually. At present international coal market prices, the revenues over 20 years at this production rate would generate over $5 billion into the British Columbia and Canadian economies."

Fast-track permitting basically allows the British Columbia government to "open up the province to mining with minimal impediment, and they don't hide that," said Thomas, who also sits on the board of directors for the Flathead Coalition, a Montana group that focuses entirely on mining activity north of the border.

Richard Neufeld, the province's minister of energy and mines defended the ministry's environmental review process and discussed Cline's mining plans for the Foisey Creek basin in a recent Vancouver Sun article. Neufeld, however, discussed the environmental review required for major mining projects rather than the small-mine permit being sought by Cline.

"If Cline wants to go ahead with a mine development, there's a huge process they have to go through," Neufeld told the Sun. "And everyone has a chance to bring issues forward. It's a long and involved process."

That reiterates an official provincial position conveyed to Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer Jan. 31.

A letter from Sheila Wynn, deputy minister of energy and mines, acknowledges that an exploratory permit was issued to Cline last fall for the Lodgepole Mine site, located about 31 miles north of the British Columbia-Montana border.

"If the exploration results warrant the development of a producing mine, any proposal would be subject to an extensive review, ensuring that British Columbia's high environmental standards are met," Wynn states in the letter. "Through these processes, the public would have an opportunity to be heard and to relay any concerns. As good neighbors, British Columbia would certainly be in touch with Montana at that time."

Building the infrastructure to extract 250,000 tons of coal annually under a small-mine permit would involve considerable site disturbance, according to Thompson and Thomas.

The problem with that is the state of Montana has been pressing British Columbia to jointly pursue a comprehensive assessment to measure "baseline" water quality data and environmental conditions in the Flathead's transboundary region. If mine development comes before a baseline assessment, it will be difficult for Montana to quantify future downstream impacts that result from mining in the Canadian Flathead.

That's why Jack Stanford, director of the University of Montana Yellow Bay Biological Station, has offered up graduate students to work with Erin Sexton of the National Parks Conservation Association in collecting water quality information downstream from the mine site as soon as this summer.

With the potential for mining to get under way as soon as next summer, Thompson said there is urgency to gather as much information as possible before any mine development commences.

The state of Montana has also aggressively pursued intervention on the matter with the International Joint Commission, a panel made up of Canadian and Americans that is charged with enforcing terms of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty.

Most recently, Schweitzer urged Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to refer the Canadian mining issue to the International Joint Commission.

"If significant ground-disturbing activities commence prior to baseline studies, the opportunity to monitor resource changes, identify impacts and mitigation strategies, and compliance with the Boundary Waters Treaty will have been lost," says supporting documentation sent with the May 24 letter to Rice.

In the Vancouver Sun article, Neufeld dismissed the need for IJC involvement.

"I don't think there's a need for an IJC here," he said. "First off, this is a small sampling process that Cline is going through, in an area where there's already industrial activity. It's not brand new, and it's well north of the mine proposal we said 'no' to last year."

Neufeld was referring to the province's rejection of Cline's plans to develop its Sage Creek mine site, which raised concerns in Montana last year.

Cline's plans for the Lodgepole site appear more plausible to observers on both sides of the border, because of the company's stated intentions of pursuing a small-mine permit.

"We figure that it's just kind of to get their toe in the door, and then they will expand," said Jill Leuenberger, who owns an outfitting company with her husband, Harry, in the basin where the mine is proposed.

"We're sick about it," she said. "If it goes ahead, it impacts us in a major way. It's right in the middle of our outfitter territory."

The potential for mine development in the Canadian Flathead will be the main topic for the Flathead Coalition's annual meeting, scheduled for July 6 at the KM Building in downtown Kalispell.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com