Coal Mining Threatens Flathead River

March 13, 2007 By: Marshall Cutchin

“The powers-that-be in British Columbia are on the verge of allowing a huge mining operation in the headwaters of the North Fork of the Flathead River, despite strong objections from the State of Montana and despite the fact that the U.S./Canadian Boundary Waters Treaty prohibits the pollution of streams or rivers that flow across our common border with Canada.” Todd Tanner writes in Field & Stream about the possibility that B.C. coal mining will pollute one of the more pristine trout rivers in North America. (Thanks to reader Michael Santangelo for this link.)
Meanwhile, Blaine Harden writes in the Washington Post that the Bush administration is unhappy with the Canadian response. “The North Fork of the Flathead, which the federal government says would quickly be contaminated with heavy metals and other mining pollutants, forms the western boundary of Glacier Park. It then flows south into Flathead Lake, often described as the largest pristine lake in the nation and a major recreation site.”