Page 28 - Flathead Beacon // 6.29.16

LIKE I WAS SAYING 30 AMERICAN RURAL 30 DRAWING BOARD 31 Viewpoints
LETTERS
Statewide Implications of Bottling Plant
Concerns over the proposed water bottling plant in Creston are justi ed based on threats to water quality, water availability, and water and land use.
Although we live above a large aqui- fer, our knowledge of how this system works is incomplete. Atop the deep aquifer are intermediate and shallow aquifers that ow west from the Swan Mountains, feeding pothole lakes in the east valley and arising as artesian springs along the Flathead River, pro- viding water for agriculture and numer- ous ecologically important wetlands. At 222 feet, Mr. Weaver’s well may not be deep enough to penetrate the deep aqui- fer. In a shallow aquifer, the proposed appropriation could have devastating impacts, drying up springs and wet- lands, lowering lakes, and harming the wells of thousands of people.
The Montana Department of Nat- ural Resources and Conservation has accepted Mr. Weaver’s hydrology report with no attempt to verify his claims, despite obvious de ciencies of which there are too many to list here. DNRC has dismissed claims that there could be e ects on availability by noting that local irrigators take similar amounts of water. This claim is disingenuous; irri- gators only pump intermittently from very deep wells about three months of the year and much of that water goes back into the ground. Mr. Weaver intends to permanently remove huge volumes of water year-round. Even in the deep aquifer, this could have adverse e ects on wells within a large radius of the bottling plant.
Mr. Weaver intends to manufacture 1.22 billion plastic bottles per year on site and a large amount of the appro- priated water is for rinsing these bot- tles. There has been no review of what this rinse water will contain and the e uent cannot be treated on-site in the proposed system. With all the past e ort expended to protect our watershed from pollution, it seems appropriate to take a hard look at this aspect of the project.
Mr. Weaver is building a large factory with lights, noise, dust, and up to 160 trucks per day year-round, in a quiet, agricultural community. Mr. Weaver’s neighbors will su er diminished qual- ity of life, lost income, and lost prop- erty value with no recourse. Our county growth policy was intended to avert these kinds of catastrophes.
Finally, there are statewide implica- tions as we consider how, as Montanans, we want to use our water. Mr. Weaver is a retired mortician from Beaumont,
California. He understands the value of our water. Montana law states that we can use the water, not own it, yet Mr. Weaver’s proposal clearly lays out his intention to ship our water out of state. The DNRC seems to have com- pletely ignored this aspect of the proj- ect. DNRC owes the people of Montana a thorough evaluation of this project and we, as Montanans, need to make some wise decisions about our water in a dry- ing future.
John Waller Creston
Media Ignores Third-Party Candidates
The presidential candidate for the Green Party, Jill Stein, visited Tucson, Arizona, on March 10 and spoke to a large group. And apparently — shhhh — it was secret.
As usual, the news agencies only cover two parties, ignoring a true pro- gressive candidate with real solutions regarding education, student nance, jobs, economy, poverty, health care, war, human rights and climate change.
Stein’s Green New Deal tackles these issues head-on and, after Bernie Sand- ers is rebu ed by the Democrats, she will be the only progressive candidate.
With 48 million college students bur- ied in debt, she proposes elimination of student debt.
To the millions of us demanding a stable economy not based on war and weapons sales, we need and have the right to hear all candidates.
Cover all views for a real democracy.
Natalie Norrell Kalispell
Zinke Public Land Record Lacks Consistency
Rep. Ryan Zinke recently cast his vote on two bills that, if passed, will negatively impact the future of public lands in Montana. The congressman’s press release read, “Zinke does it again: Bucks party leaders and votes NO on transferring ownership of public lands.”
Looks good, right? However, Rep. Zinke failed to note his vote in sup- port of one of the measures, H.R. 2316. Herein lies the problem.
H.R. 2316, “The Self-Su cient Com- munity Lands Act,” would use gover- nor-appointed committees to manage up to 2 million acres of national forests in Montana. It would free private indus- tries’ from having to abide by national environmental laws that keep our for- ests healthy and viable.
Visionaries like Theodore Roosevelt
and Gi ord Pinchot intended these lands to be managed “to provide the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in the long run.” Rep. Zinke’s vote directly contradicts the intentions of these early conservationists.
Most of us can agree that the man- agement of public lands isn’t perfect. The Forest Service is experiencing massive cuts in both budget and per- sonnel, despite an increased demand for resources and recreation on lands it oversees. This problem requires direct action, not a politician who avows his support of public lands but votes incon- sistently on critical legislation.
We cannot let shortsighted interests cloud our vision for sustainable man- agement of these resources. Our chil- dren should not only be able to hunt and sh on Montana’s national forest lands, they also should be able to support their families on them as a logger.
Jack Cholewa Missoula
Importance of Human Rights Resolution
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 343 earlier this month, which expresses concern regarding persistent and cred- ible reports of systematic, state-sanc- tioned organ harvesting from non-con- senting prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China, including from large numbers of Falun Gong prac- titioners and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups, including Christians, Tibetans, and Uighurs.
The resolution further states that it calls on the regime to immediately end the 17-year persecution of Falun Gong, and release all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. It calls for a credible, transparent and independent investigation into the Chi- na’s organ transplantation system.
Falun Gong is an ancient Chinese self improvement practice that follows the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. It was banned by the Chi- nese regime in 1999 because of its pop- ularity, and practitioners are arrested, tortured and sometimes killed for their belief. It is now practiced by over 100 million people throughout the world.
The resolution garnered strong bipartisan support with 185 co-spon- sors from congressmen throughout the country. Thanks to Rep. Ryan Zinke’s o ce for voting for this resolution.
Katherine Combes Kalispell
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LETTERS
Tell us what you think. To submit a letter, please e-mail your submission to editor@ atheadbeacon.com. Please keep your letter to 300 words or less. The Flathead Beacon reserves the right to edit letters for length, clarity and to prevent libel. Letters must include the writer’s rst and last name, phone number and address for veri cation purposes. Only the name and hometown of the writer will be printed. To mail a letter, please send to 17 Main Street, Kalispell, MT 59901.
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JUNE 29, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM