Montana Governor Appeals To Ottawa

*Montana governor appeals to Ottawa over coalbed methane* VANCOUVER (CP) - The governor of Montana, unhappy with the B.C. government's response to her concerns about coalbed methane drilling in southeastern B.C., has asked Ottawa for an environmental assessment. An auction of drilling leases by the B.C. government began July 8 and will end Aug. 25 when leases are awarded. The leases are on B.C.-U.S. border. In a July 26 letter to the federal Environment and Foreign Affairs departments, Gov. Judy Martz asked that the auction be deferred until an environmental assessment of the situation can be performed to the satisfaction of both countries. "Our concern is the ground-breaking activities and wastewater discharge is likely to commence before an environmental baseline is established and before a comprehensive assessment is completed," Martz wrote. She asked that the assessment be performed by a joint review panel including technical experts and resource specialists. http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=news_home&articleID=1672517