Dear HCN,
I must comment on Ron
Selden’s article on the Flathead Indian tribes and the Yellowstone
Pipe Line Co. (HCN, 3/4/96). Did Selden ask any questions at all,
or was the article written by the tribal
spokeswoman?
First, I won’t defend Conoco’s spill
record – it sounds abysmal. They should be made to pay fines and
clean up the damage. But it should be under the direction of the
Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Since when did tribal
folks become environmental experts and
enforcers?
Second, what the Indians are doing to
Conoco is defined as extortion. The Indians are literally holding
the pipeline (which was operated under a valid lease for 40 years)
hostage for huge sums of money. What do college scholarships and
cash for cultural programs have to do with a pipeline
lease?
Conoco’s pipeline provides gas and fuel
for every person between Billings and Spokane; and when tribal
leaders paint Conoco as a greedy firm, they forget it provides a
vital public service for the region. Forcing Conoco to truck and
rail fuel around the reservation puts the environment and human
health at higher risk because this is statistically more accident
prone than pipeline transportation. Conoco is right when they say
“we will prevail.” They will because every resident and tourist in
western Montana and northern Idaho, including the Indians
themselves, will continue to buy lots of gasoline.
Robert Stamp
Casper,
Wyoming
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Nothing short of extortion.
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