In the Rockies today, the University of Wyoming finds a way to track discharge water from coalbed methane operations, and also in Wyoming, the Bureau of Land Management pulls Little Mountain leases off its Tuesday auction.
Wyoming and Montana have been battling over coalbed methane operations in Wyoming that Montana said has affected water quality in the Powder and Tongue rivers.
The University of Wyoming has developed a test that can track methane water back to a specific coal seam, and the test has already indicated that coalbed methane water discharged into the Powder River has had little effect on the river's quality as it runs into Montana.
And on Wyoming's Little Mountain, the Bureau of Land Management pulled a 1,700-acre parcel off its Tuesday auction to allow more time for federal and state agencies to come up with a wildlife strategy plan for the popular hunting, fishing and recreation area.
Rockies today
'Methane fingerprinting' injects science in Wyo.-Mont. CBM dispute
Fresh off the lab desks at the University of Wyoming, "methane fingerprinting" allows scientists to trace coal-bed methane in water supplies back to its original source, and early tests indicate that coalbed methane development in Wyoming has no measurable effect on Montana's water in the Powder and Tongue Rivers.
Missoulian (AP); June 8
BLM pulls leases on Wyoming's Little Mountains from auction
The Bureau of Land Management announced it would hold off on leasing a 1,700-acre parcel for oil and gas exploration near Little Mountain in southwest Wyoming after the state's governor raised concerns about the sage grouse habitat and called for a joint federal-state wildlife management study before the lease goes forward.
Casper Star-Tribune; June 8
Bankruptcy court OKs Asarco's $1.1B environmental settlement
Arizona copper mining giant Asarco got the go-ahead from a federal bankruptcy judge to settle $8.6 billion in environmental claims with a number of federal and state agencies for $1.1 billion, an important step for the company to emerge from bankruptcy.
Arizona Republic; June 8
Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. in Montana announces closure
Montana's Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. announced Friday that it plans to shutter its doors permanently in August and lay off the plant's 90 workers, after the slumping economy sent the price of aluminum to historic lows.
Missoulian; June 5
Amish move west to Colorado, where land is cheaper
Between 2002 and 2008, Colorado's Amish population grew from zero to 400, with many moving west from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana to Montana and Colorado, which now boast the westernmost Amish populations.
Denver Post (AP); June 7
Nevada professor wants 'dipper wells' shut down
Starbucks, ice cream shops and some restaurants in Nevada use "dipper wells" to provide a continuous stream of water to rinse utensils, and Martin Dean Dupalo, an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a student spent three months locating such wells in the Nevada valley and found 2,453 at 1,134 food establishments that sent 106.4 million gallons of drinking water annually down the drain--enough to supply 653 homes with water for a year.
Las Vegas Review-Journal; June 8
B.C. city votes against Canadian response to 'Buy American'
At the annual meeting Saturday of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, representatives of Canadian cities narrowly approved a measure to retaliate against the protectionist measures of the U.S. stimulus plan.
Vancouver Sun; June 8
Opinion
There is no need for federal 'fracking' legislation
Colorado U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette's proposed bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing--a drilling method that uses a combination of high pressure and chemicals to crack open reserves of natural gas deep underground--is simply not needed and U.S. Rep. John Salazar, whose Colorado congressional district is home to drilling operations where the process is used, should take a firm stance against the measure.
Grand Junction Sentinel; June 8
Montana politicians call for big changes in mine recovery funding
Five Democratic state legislators write that an antiquated federal mining law has left the coal industry to pay to clean up abandoned metal mines, and now the industry says it's tired of paying to take care of someone else's mess, this coupled with Obama's plan to cut abandoned mine cleanup funding leaves Montanans with an array of environmental hazards and no way to to deal with them.
Great Falls Tribune; June 8
Beyond the Region
Congress struggles to find money for transportation projects
The federal Highway Trust Fund provides much of the money for transportation projects, but for a second year in a row, that fund is in danger of running dry as Americans are driving less and paying less in gasoline taxes, which fuels the fund, and with a $450-billion, six-year federal transportation bill waiting in the wings, Congress is struggling to find another source of revenue.
New York Times; June 6
As unemployment rate rises, job losses slow
The national unemployment rate in the United States hit 9.4 percent in May, the highest seen in 26 years, but economists said the slowing of job losses indicates that the economy is starting to recover.
New York Times; June 5
Biofuels go boom to bust in Oregon, Washington in 2 years
The biofuels boom began in August 2007 in Washington and Oregon with Imperium Renewables' 100 million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant near Grays Harbor, Wash., followed by Pacific Ethanol's 40 million-gallon corn ethanol plant in Boardman, Ore., a month later, and then Cascade Grain opened its Oregon plant near Clatskanie in June last year, but now Cascade Grain's plant is closed, as is Imperium's and Pacific Ethanol is in bankruptcy, with only enough operating cash through the end of this month.
Portland Oregonian; June 8
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