*******Court will likely decide water dispute
aturday, January 5, 2008 2:01 AM MST
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's rejection of a proposed water quality agreement with Wyoming sends the dispute between the states back to U.S. District Court in Wyoming.
That leaves Montana exposed to the possibility the court could impose weaker water quality rules on Wyoming's coal-bed methane industry than the ones rejected Friday. But Schweitzer said it's worth the risk.
"We'll take our chances," Schweitzer said.
The proposed deal would have covered the Tongue River, which passes from Wyoming into Montana, but excluded two of its main tributaries.
Northern Wyoming, where the Tongue River originates, has experienced intense coal-bed methane development over the past decade, with more than 20,000 wells drilled. Large volumes of water from underground aquifers are discharged during coal-bed methane production.
Fearful of the effects on downstream farmers, Montana in 2006 attempted to impose new limits on coal-bed methane water entering the Tongue and its tributaries. However, before the state's standards could be approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, several companies sued in federal court to block their adoption.
Wyoming later joined the lawsuit on the side of the companies. Montana joined on the side of the EPA.
The case remains before U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Cheyenne. The two sides had long since missed Brimmer's Nov. 30 deadline to reach an agreement. But he has not yet scheduled hearings in the case, so a resumption of negotiations is still possible.
Schweitzer said he was open to more discussions but that none were planned.
In a news release Friday, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said the latest proposal from his state was in response to concerns expressed by Schweitzer about standards for two Tongue River tributaries, Hanging Woman and Badger creeks.
"As part of the review of the new language which was offered by the State of Montana, we asked whether the new language addressed Gov. Schweitzer’s concerns," Freudenthal said. "We viewed these as good faith, ongoing negotiations and were awaiting further discussions. The next thing we hear is a request from the media for a response to Gov. Schweitzer’s rejection of an agreement.
"I do not know whether he rejected the November 20, 2007 agreement, the new language under consideration or simply concluded that he wants all of the assimilative capacity of the tributaries on the Montana side of the border to accommodate expanded CBM development in Montana.”
Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg had no immediate comment. He said he was still reviewing the implications of Schweitzer's decision.
While some Montana landowners applauded Schweitzer's move, a spokesman for Marathon Oil said the company was "disappointed" the states could not agree.
"We would like to make plans (for future development), and it's hard to make plans without knowing what the rules would look like," said Marathon's Scott Scheffler.
Conservation groups and ranchers who depend on the Tongue for irrigation had pushed Schweitzer to reject the agreement.
Roger Muggli, a Miles City farmer and manager of the Tongue and Yellowstone Irrigation District, said Schweitzer's Friday decision was a "gutsy move" in the face of alleged pressure from the industry to accept the deal.
"They need to figure out how to develop (coal-bed methane) and put the water back" into the ground, he said. "We don't need all that water in the creeks and rivers."
Muggli last year claimed some of his fields near Miles City already were suffering the effects of coal-bed methane water.
But energy producers and an industry scientist contended there was no clear evidence methane production was causing any problems. They have argued the standards could unnecessarily slow coal-bed methane production in Wyoming.
Another possibility, according to Schweitzer, was that Wyoming production would push waterways past their capacity to absorb sodium, closing the door on future energy development in Montana.
Friday's rejection came on the heels of a significant development in another, related water fight between the two states, over the Tongue and Powder rivers.
On Wednesday, Solicitor General Paul Clement recommended the U.S. Supreme Court take up a case in which Montana alleges Wyoming has depleted the two rivers, through excessive irrigation and coal-bed methane production. |
