Mining issues getting noticed in B.C.

Potential industrial development in the Canadian Flathead drainage is gaining a higher profile in British Columbia, with possible environmental consequences that would counter international law, Canadian speakers said at a gathering Monday in Whitefish.

Richard Paisley, an international water law expert from the University of British Columbia, was among the speakers at an open house sponsored by the Flathead Coalition, a group of Montanans concerned about potential coal and gas development north of the border.

Paisley said there is a growing body of international law that supports the position that fish, wildlife and water resources in Montana's North Fork Flathead River drainage would be adversely impacted by coal and gas development north of the border.

"On this one, you are fighting on the side of the angels, because you have international law on your side," he said.

There are more than 260 river basins around the world that cross international boundaries, often with conflicts similar to what has developed in the transboundary Flathead drainage, said Paisley, who has been involved in environmental conflict resolution in places such as Vietnam's Mekong River and the Nile River in Africa.

Montana, he said, can make the case that coal-bed methane development or mountaintop removal coal mining would lead to ecological harm that would not be considered "equitable and reasonable" under norms of international law.

"Procedurally, you are entitled to full disclosure and information about what's going down, and you haven't had that yet," he said.

Casey Brennan, a regional spokesman for the Canadian conservation group Wildsight, said the provincial government's process for reviewing any exploration or development does not consider cumulative impacts of gradually developing the basin.

He likened provincial reviews to a housing inspector approving materials for a house one piece at a time, rather than looking at the blueprints.

As a result, Montana has been doing the heavy lifting in assessing current environmental conditions in the transboundary Flathead.

It has done so with grants and with funding from the state's congressional delegation and the state Legislature, led by bipartisan support from Flathead lawmakers. The actual field work has been carried out by organizations such as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station.

The most immediate threat in the Canadian Flathead is potential coal-bed methane exploration that has been proposed by BP Canada. Brennan said BP Canada must first go through a referral process for "tenure" - leasing rights to coal resources owned by the Crown - and that will take at least six months.

With that process finished, the company can pursue a permit to explore for methane gas.

The Flathead Coalition and others in Montana are concerned about wastewater produced by coal-bed methane operations.

And there is concern about a looming proposal for a coal mine at one of the uppermost headwaters to the Flathead drainage.

That proposal from the Cline Mining Corp., however, has been on hold in recent months, Brennan said.

Chloe Loughlin, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, told the gathering in Whitefish that political pressure from Montana has been getting notice in Vancouver, the bureaucratic center of provincial government that is far removed from the remote Flathead in British Columbia's southeastern fringe.

The noise from Montana, she said, "has enabled us to get media coverage and the ear of the provincial government … They are starting to realize that this is a big mess."

A major Canadian broadcaster recently aired a program on the Canadian Flathead, and there has been increasing coverage in large newspapers such as the Vancouver Sun, she said.

The transboundary Flathead is bound to get more attention. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is planning to hold congressional field hearings in the Flathead and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer plans a summit with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell early next year.

Loughlin and Paisley said diplomacy is the preferred direction for protecting resources in the basin.

"International law isn't going to decide the matter, but it is one more arrow in your quiver," Paisley said.

He stressed that when it comes to water resources, international law mainly provides precedents in settling disputes. It can be vague and difficult to enforce through a variety of international panels.

"Despite that, most countries observe international law," he said, "because they don't want to be on the wrong side of international law."

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