Oil and gas development in North Fork a 'tricky' question

by Steve Thompson
| June 24, 2010 11:00 PM

While oil spews into the Gulf of Mexico, it is important to remember that BP recently had the Flathead River and Glacier National Park in its crosshairs, proposing to drill hundreds of coalbed methane wells in the Canadian headwaters of the North Fork. This project would have generated millions of gallons of toxic water as a by-product of coalfield extraction.

The company responsible for the worst oil spill, the worst pipeline disaster and the worst refinery explosion in U.S. history assured us that it would protect the Flathead. Many Montanans weren't comforted by such promises.

In December 2008, a group of concerned citizens from our region traveled to Calgary to meet with the CEO of BP Energy. Leading this effort on behalf of Whitefish was Will Hammerquist, who told the BP chief that coalfield development in the headwaters of Glacier National Park is a recipe for disaster.

As a direct result of that meeting and strong citizen opposition in the Flathead and Fernie, B.C., BP has publicly dropped its plan to drill in the Flathead. Legislation is being advanced in both countries to ensure that the North Fork remains free of oil and gas drilling forever.

Today, Will Hammer-quist (my former colleague at the Glacier office of National Parks Conservation Association) is a candidate to represent Whitefish in the state legislature. The other candidate, in stark contrast, is Derek Skees, who told the Pilot that he favors more fossil fuel development around Glacier.

Coal development in the Canadian Flathead "is a tricky question," he hedged, but Skees told the Pilot he definitely wants to lift the ban on oil and gas drilling on Montana's Rocky Mountain Front.

Whether to develop coalfields in the North Fork is not a tricky question. We need to elect people who realize that scenic beauty, clean water and public lands are the real treasures of the Flathead. Will Hammerquist is that candidate in House District 4. Please remember this when you vote this fall.

Steve Thompson lives in Whitefish.