Chemicals used on North Fork Road need monitoring

In a recent letter titled “A response to scientific honesty needed in North Fork dustup,” writer Jack Potter failed to note the fact that E. William Schweiger, Ph.D. ecologist, Rocky Mountain Network, National Park Service, that when asked by me (Joe Novak), “Would allowing spring snow melt to wash across an unpaved road that has been treated with chemicals in recent years, specifically magnesium chloride, cause harm to the river and the bull trout in the North Fork River, and did they have any scientific data to back up their conclusions,” he responded by writing, “To be honest, I’m not sure if any of our data we are collecting now or that are in the report linked to above will properly address dust or other contaminants from the North Fork Road. That issue would likely require a fairly detailed effort with specific methods and parameters designed to look at the source and eventual fate of anything that might be coming off the road (relative to natural sediments, etc.).”

So they don’t monitor dust or chemicals from the road entering the river and can’t even agree where their one air quality monitoring station is. It’s fair to say that Glacier National Park officials and Potter have no scientific data to say we are wrong.

If Potter is truly concerned about the misuse of scientific information and misquotes, he should fact check his own letters, and if he is concerned about protecting the environment he should demand the Park officials aggressively monitor air and water pollution.

Joe Novak lives in Polebridge.