B.C. on coalbed methane collision course with Montana

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent

The British Columbia government has shrugged off concerns from neighboring Montana and invited bids for coalbed methane rights in its southeastern corner.

An auction which will close Aug. 25 will grant five-year exploration permits to successful bidders, who will also have the right to development permits once they propose formal plans for methane fields.

Montana officials had asked for an environmental, social and economic study to examine potential effects of the project.

Todd O’Hair, natural resource adviser to Montana Gov. Judy Martz, said the state wants to be kept informed throughout the auction process.

“This government’s position is not to stop you at all costs,” O’Hair told Canadian officials. “Our concern has been understanding potential impacts to the state.”

British Columbia Energy and Mines Minister Richard Neufeld said coalbed methane development would have a “huge economic benefit” for his province, while posing no downstream threat to the water quality, wildlife and environment in the Flathead River system of Montana, despite the salty and acidic water produced by coalbed methane wells.

But the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and the Flathead Basin Commission have called for an international environmental assessment before any coalbed methane development proceeds. They have a British Columbia ally in the City of Fernie, which objects to the province launching a new industry without a formal set of rules for coalbed methane.

Fernie city councilman David Thomas said coalbed methane is unlike traditional oil and gas drilling “yet we have no rules to enforce it. And the government doesn’t want to study the impacts or gather the baseline data before they begin drilling. That’s very troubling.”

An earlier proposal to strip mine coal in British Columbia about six miles from the northern border of Montana’s Glacier National Park was scuttled this spring amid opposition from both Canada and the United States.

—The Associated Press contributed to this story