By HEIDI DESCH
Hungry Horse News
FERNIE, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Canadian residents seem to be just as concerned about a proposed coal mine near Fernie, British Columbia, as their American counterparts.
A standing room only crowd attended a meeting in Fernie last week hosted by Cline Mining Co. About 25 people chose to make comments on the proposal. The meeting is one of the steps Cline must go through during an environmental assessment of the proposal for the Lodgepole mine.
Casey Brennan with Wildsight, questioned British Columbia's ability to protect the area and complete baseline scientific studies involved in the assessment. Wildsight is a Canadian group that works to protect Canada's Rocky Mountain region.
“A place as pristine as the Flathead deserves as much study as possible,” he said.
Cline is proposing to create a coal mine in the North Fork of the Flathead. The company plans to mine coal from the open pit project for 20 years as well as upgrade a road system into the drainage.
The mine would take off the top of a mountain in the Foisey Creek drainage, a tributary of the North Fork of the Flathead. It will haul about 2 million tons of coal a year.
One of the major concerns has been the mine's proposed location on Foisey Creek.
Cline CEO Gordon Gromley said Foisey Creek is “one of the areas of concern.”
“The mine will impact the upper reaches of that tributary,” he said.
However, after several commented that Montana's water needs protection, Gromley said the company only goes through the British Columbia assessment.
“I'm hearing comments about Montana and water - they have their process and we have ours,” he told the crowd.
Several British Columbia residents told provincial officials to pay better attention to the concerns of Montana and its officials.
Montana officials have submitted 129 or 44.2 percent of the concerns raised over the draft document.
David Thomas of Fernie said the draft doesn't reflect those concerns.
“There has been no change of the draft. This gives the indication that you're not paying any attention to these (Montana) agencies,” he said.
Garry Alexander, project assessment director for British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Office, said Montana has participated in the process.
“We're working with Montana to make sure the issues are addressed,” he said.
He noted that relationship may even extend beyond the terms of reference.
While many comments came from Canadian citizens concerned about the mine, several Montanan's also voiced their opinion.
“My question is that if by some fluke of geography the Flathead went to Vancouver and not south would anyone be talking about putting a coal mine in the North Fork of the Flathead?” asked Steve Smith of West Glacier.
His comment drew applause from the crowd.
He said Montana's recommendation for three to five years of baseline studies isn't being acknowledged.
Many commented on British Columbia's environmental review process of the mine which allows the proponent to create the terms of reference and conduct scientific studies to determine potential impact.
Maarten Hart of Fernie criticized the process.
“The proponent is making up the rules of the game and you are making him follow those rules,” he said. “You let the proponent decide what to put in his application and then he fulfills his own requirements.”
Some wanted to review area of the mine to be larger to extend into Montana.
“The provincial governement has determined that the study area is adequate,” said Alexander.
The comment period on the Lodgepole mine runs through Feb. 1.
A copy of the draft document is available at the Flathead County Library in Kalispell or online at www.eao.gov.bc.ca. Comments can be e-mailed to eaoinfo@gov.bc.ca or by mailed to Garry Alexander, Project Assessment Director, Environmental Assessment Office, P.O. Box 9426 ST. Prov. Govt., Victoria, BC Canada V8W 9V1.
ELKO:
Shannon LaBelle says if Cline plans to place the coal loadout facility close to Elko she's concerned about the increased traffic on roads.
Wendy Eckersley says her biggest worry is about the pollution and noise effects, while Dan Parsons says he's worried about air quality.
The residents filled out public comment forms expressing their concerns to the Environmental Assessment Office and will try to find other ways to make their concerns known.
SOURCE: Columbia Kootenay Broadcasting
