***********Bad water floods political landscape
aturday, May 26, 2007 2:07 AM MDT
Editor:
Wyoming's attorney general should pull his head out and ask why the waters flowing from Wyoming to Montana have a significant increase in electro-conductivity, as that is linked to salt content from CBM (coal-bed methane well-drilling activity) run-offs.
Crank's own conduct may have contributed to the current serious legal problems between Montana and Wyoming. New Mexico mandates the proper control of CBM water run-off so as not to degrade the lands or fresh waters. But with Crank, he just sticks his head in the sand to create problems for others. But Crank and the governor (state) hire some high-dollar-per-hour Beltway political types (plugged into the oil industry and that brand of political leverage), causing more havoc in the way they rig around environmental quality boards, close their eyes to the brewing problem, and then wonder why Montana was forced to take legal action. Salt in fresh waters is not a good thing to farmers, to fish life in fresh waters, or to the quality of life for living humans, wildlife, crops or communities.
If that is too complex for the Wyoming attorney general to understand, maybe the governor should start looking for another attorney general, since he appointed Crank and can remove him -- at will. Crank is not elected to anything -- he is supposed to serve all the people, not his own political agenda. Surely, as a former assistant U.S. attorney, Mr. Crank is somewhat familiar with federal water quality laws and must know that he has spawned a world of trouble, which he is now having a very hard time even defending, as he gets more shrill by the day.
JIM HAGOOD, Lakewood, Colo. |
