Fishy behavior on the Lake Koocanusa selenium problem

To the editor:

How many of you like to fish or have a relative who does? Well, something’s fishy in Lincoln County and it’s not just the trout. You see, the rumor’s been confirmed. Republicans Steve Gunderson (R-Libby), running again to represent House District 1, and state Sen. Mike Cuff (R-Eureka) were up to something that did not get past the people from every single sector in our state legislature. In fact, it seems everyone was stymied by their reaction.

I have to wonder if these two hoped most people wouldn’t find out until after the election. Gunderson is being challenged by Marv Sather, who unlike Gunderson, takes no money from political action committees, but only from local donors.

So here’s what’s fishy. Gunderson and Cuffe voted to stall the process of shoring up protections from the selenium dump going into Lake Koocanusa and, subsequently, the Kootenai River.

The two were quoted as saying that that this six year process suddenly has them feeling blind-sighted and rushed. On Oct. 19, The Flathead Beacon reported that ”the lawmakers’ characterization of a ‘hurried’ process was uniformly rejected by scientists, tribal leaders, business owners, conservationists, state and federal regulators, and fellow legislators, who pointed to a years-long collaboration aimed at protecting Montana’s environmental and economic interests.”

The current process is aimed at getting ahead of more dumping before things are much worse. Who would vote against this and why? To any reasonable person, their cockamamie story is fishy. It certainly was to every other entity at the state level.

“Too hasty?” Most of us who fish know that Canada’s mines are dumping selenium into the crowning gem of our county, Lake Koocanusa. It’s not only a toxin for fish, it’s actually been warned that pregnant women not eat fish from the lake and river at this time. What do you want to wait for fellas?

It’s suspicious at best, but as for Gunderson, one has only to look up the major sources of his campaign contributions. It pains me to see how few Lincoln County residents are informed on this, and my feeling is Gunderson counts on that. He’s been supporting Mr. Gianforte, who is all about undoing the Affordable Care Act and backing big monied interests in our state, to our detriment. Gunderson even received a hefty campaign donation from Gianforte.

Gunderson and Cuffe claim they want to “wait for new leadership” in the state before they do any more to enforce Canada getting its mines cleaned up! Could Gunderson have been lured into slowing the process until after the election when any legislation can be vetoed by, perhaps, a new governor in the back pocket of these mining companies?

Thank goodness, we have people in our government without fishy strings from outside interests, officials who have the people’s back first and foremost. People in northwest Montana win only if we firm up our treaty with Canada to enforce and support the mining company’s cleanup. I urge everyone in Lincoln County to read the Flathead Beacon’s article “New Rule to Protect Lake Koocanusa from BC Mining Contaminant Clears Legislative Hurdle.” I worry that not enough people will get this information before the election. Fishy deals got sunk this time, but with no thanks to these two men.

Let’s hope people begin to support candidates who care about us first!

Laurie L. Walsh

Libby