U.S. Water News Online
BILLINGS, Mont. -- Gov. Brian Schweitzer has rejected a proposed water quality agreement with Wyoming, saying it failed to protect Montana's farmers and fisheries and could have curtailed future energy development in the state.
The collapsed agreement -- hashed out during months of negotiations -- had called for tighter standards on some water discharged by the coal-bed methane industry. It would have covered the Tongue River, which passes from Wyoming into Montana, but excluded two of its main tributaries.
Schweitzer said that was equivalent to a homeowner putting a double lock on the front door but leaving the back door and windows wide open.
Billions of gallons of water from aquifers are discharged during coal-bed methane production. The discharged water is typically high in sodium and other salts, which can ruin crops and soils and harm fisheries.
"This would be a backdoor way of delivering sodium to Montana," Schweitzer said of the exclusion of the two tributaries, Hanging Woman and Badger creeks. "Effectively it all ends up in the same place: It ends up on the fields of Montana farmers and it ends up in the Tongue River."
The decision 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 than the ones rejected.
"We'll take our chances," Schweitzer said.
Wyoming Gov. David Freudenthal said in a statement that he was not notified of the decision and heard about it only through a reporter. Freudenthal said negotiations over the tributaries had been ongoing, and that Wyoming was "awaiting further discussions" when Schweitzer's decision came.
"Wyoming's Department of Environmental Quality was awaiting a response from its Montana counterpart on the language to deal with the two tributaries," he said. "I guess we have our answer. Under no circumstances does Governor Schweitzer view it to his political advantage to work with us. So, we'll continue in court."
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.
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.
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 suit 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.
Conservation groups and ranchers who depend on the Tongue for irrigation had pushed the governor to reject the agreement.
Roger Muggli, a Miles City farmer and manager of the Tongue and Yellowstone Irrigation District, said Schweitzer's 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.
The rejection came on the heels of a significant development in another, related water fight between the two states, over the Tongue and Powder rivers.
The Solicitor General Paul Clement has 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.
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields