The move by Sen. Max Baucus comes on the heels of a State Department letter to British Columbia's leadership. That letter - penned by Edward Alex Lee, director of the Office of Canadian Affairs at the State Department - expressed concerns about “significant adverse environmental impacts” should the mine be approved.
Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said the timing of the senator's follow-up request for federal action was driven, in part, by Lee's letter, which “offered a detailed analysis of the department's position on the Canadian Flathead.”
This is not the first time Baucus has built such momentum. A similar coal mine proposal in the 1980s raised similar concerns. That Canadian coal plan also was located in the Flathead River drainage north of Glacier National Park, and also worried downstream interests. Many felt the risks to Montana water and wildlife were too great.
With the help of Baucus, the State Department and its Canadian counterpart agreed to refer the dispute to the International Joint Commission, a binational forum created by treaty to hammer out transboundary water issues. In 1988, the IJC ruled the proposed mine plan should be abandoned.
When a new mining proposal surfaced six years ago, Baucus again became active in negotiating a solution. His March 13 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, however, marked the first time he specifically asked for IJC involvement in the current dispute.
The mine, as proposed by Toronto-based Cline Mining, would remove a mountaintop at the headwaters of the Canadian Flathead River. Some 40 million tons of coal would be hauled from the wilderness over 20 years.
The Canadian Flathead flows south from the mine site, crossing the international border to form the western boundary of Glacier National Park. Many of the fish and wildlife species that live in the park also use the Canadian Flathead during parts of the year.
“Glacier National Park, the Flathead River system and the clean, clear waters of Flathead Lake serve as the backbone of the economy of northwestern Montana,” Baucus wrote in his letter to Rice. “This (mine) represents a renewed threat of degradation and destruction of social, environmental and economic assets that are important to Montana.”
Baucus encouraged Rice to request a hearing by the IJC, saying such federal intervention “is of the utmost importance to Montana's outdoor heritage, and our nation's environmental legacy.”
Involvement by the International Joint Commission is possible only by request of the State Department.
“Montanans are outdoors people,” Baucus wrote in his appeal to Rice. “We enjoy sharing our legacy of hunting and fishing with our children, and work hard to preserve our rivers, lakes, forests and rangelands for future generations. This mining proposal presents serious risks to that valuable legacy in the Flathead River basin and Glacier National Park.”
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