Montana Editorial Roundup

Bozeman Daily Chronicle, July 24, on Montana’s congressional delegation putting country before party:

It was gratifying to hear that all three members of Montana’s congressional delegation reject any notion on the part of President Trump that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 presidential election.

As expected, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester condemned remarks Trump made when he appeared alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, where the president seem to give more credence to Putin’s denial of the election interference than to the firm conclusions of his own intelligence agencies.

“Our country must hold Putin accountable, not hold his hand,” Tester said.

But Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, both Republicans, also voiced opposition to the president in their own statements.

“I have the highest confidence in the men and women in our intelligence communities and their conclusive evidence regarding Russia’s deliberate efforts to interfere in our elections,” Daines said.

Gianforte issued a statement that said, “Russia is not our ally.. American intelligence agencies have been clear: Russia has interfered and continues to interfere in our elections .”

Trump has broken many established norms of presidential behavior. Among the worst of his actions has been undermining the credibility of the intelligence community, the men and women who risk their lives to safeguard our national security. Trump’s reluctant and belated acknowledgement the Russian meddling has hindered and slowed urgently needed measures to ensure the same isn’t repeated in this fall’s midterm election.

It would be even more gratifying to hear our delegation speak with unity in opposition to other Trump policies that are clearly not in the best interests of Montanans and all Americans, such as the widespread imposition of tariffs on foreign imports - especially those levied on products imported from our longstanding allies like Canada, Mexico and members of the European Union. Retaliatory tariffs on U.S. tariffs on imports from China are already having negative impacts on Montana ag producers who sell their products to China.

Party loyalty can be of overriding importance to politicians. But when that loyalty betrays the interests of their constituents, they have a moral obligation to speak out in opposition. Thankfully, Daines and Gianforte showed some real statesmanship in this case.

Editorial: https://bit.ly/2LOMH2b

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Missoulian, July 22, on high lead levels in water at Montana public schools:

School starts in less than six weeks for the nearly 14,000 students who attend public schools in Missoula County. Another 1,000 or so students attend a private school.

Among the many pressing concerns about school safety is one important question parents might not think to ask: How safe is the drinking water?

Unfortunately, it’s not as safe as it should be.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, for one, recommends a limit of 1 part per billion for lead in school water systems - far less than the 15 ppb accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead is a heavy metal that is toxic if ingested in any amount, but children are especially susceptible to lead poisoning. Prolonged exposure to even small amounts of lead can cause their small, still-developing bodies to suffer limited bone growth; poor muscle coordination; decreased kidney, brain and nervous system function; and developmental delays. As noted by the environmental advocacy group Environment Montana’s Get the Lead Out initiative, medical research suggests that millions of American children are losing IQ points due to low levels of lead exposure.

With that in mind, recent reports are sounding the alarm about high lead levels in public schools - or at least, in those that test their water. In Montana, samples are taken only on a voluntary basis, and many schools, especially in rural areas, don’t regularly test their water systems for contaminants.

The Missoula County Public Schools district, thankfully, is among those that tests the water in its schools. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the results show some local schools have levels of lead that well exceed 1 ppb. In fact, records from Missoula County show lead in amounts at or above 1 part per billion in nearly 78 percent of the 140 samples tested from 2016 to 2018 - the highest of Montana’s four largest cities, according to Environment Montana.

Only one school in the state returned a sample showing lead levels over 15 ppb - and it was in Missoula County. A test from Seeley-Swan High School measured a jaw-dropping amount of lead of 28 ppb, prompting district officials to immediately replace four fixtures and install a filter. The likely source of the problem was traced to a nearby defunct water line that had backed up into the building’s main water system.

Lead is a naturally occurring substance that is often used in pipes and other construction materials. Many Missoula County homes with older plumbing systems likely have lead components, which is one of the reasons why county health officials recommend that the owners of older homes and homes with private wells test their water for lead and other contaminants.

MCPS is in the closing phases of its major renovation and new construction plan funded by a bond approved by voters in November 2015, with completion on track ahead of the December 2020 timeline.

But parents shouldn’t assume that new or renovated buildings have eliminated the threat of lead contamination. Rattlesnake Elementary, which was among the first schools in the district to undergo renovation, had the next-highest lead content in the county, with 14 ppb - barely under the EPA’s overly generous standard.

Environment Montana’s statewide report included these results for schools in Missoula County:

- Sentinel High School: 13 ppb

- Lewis and Clark School: 12 ppb in the nurse’s office

- Big Sky High School: 10 ppb in kitchen sinks

- Russell Elementary: 10 ppb in a girls’ restroom

- All other schools: less than 10 ppb.

Again, these are the results of testing done on a voluntary basis. A report released last week by the Government Accountability Office showed that less than half of school districts in the United States test the water in their schools for lead. Of those that do, 37 percent found elevated lead levels.

The majority of schools in Montana are not required to test for lead or any other contaminants, despite the state’s long and tragic history of Superfund-level toxins in rivers and watersheds. Of nearly 500 school districts in Montana, only about 100 are required to perform lead tests because they serve as their own water utility, according to Environment Montana. They are mostly located in rural communities. The four largest districts - Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls and Missoula - perform voluntary testing, and on average, about 75 percent of these tests show lead levels above 1 ppb.

As Environment Montana discovered when putting together its report, the results of voluntary water tests can be provided on an individual basis but are not otherwise readily available to the public. The state doesn’t keep its own public database of lead test results.

It should, and the first step to creating such a database would be to require all schools to undergo regular testing. The tests could be required on an annual basis for those school with high levels of lead, and followed up every five years or so for schools with a proven track record of lower lead levels.

Reducing lead exposure may be as simple as replacing a particular fixture or installing a filter, or as intensive as replacing old pipes. But these safety measures cannot be taken with any degree of confidence until the larger community has a good grasp on the extent of the problem.

Going forward, Missoula County should continue testing its schools, make the results more readily accessible to the public, and launch a wider discussion about how best to ensure the water our students drink is as safe as it can possibly be.

Editorial: https://bit.ly/2LmJ2wq

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Billings Gazette, July 20, on Gianforte’s comments on pardons:

For the sake of conversation, let’s say someone comes to your house and sets your land on fire intentionally.

In addition to the fire department responding, you’d probably hope there’s some kind of criminal charges.

Bizarre, crazy situation, right?

And yet for good measure, let’s also assume that after the ordeal is over - and you get your home back - the people who did that to your property are let off without consequence.

That couldn’t happen, right?

Well it already did. To you. And us. And all Americans.

Really, that’s just a stripped-down version of what happened when Oregon ranchers Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven, were pardoned by President Donald Trump for committing arson on public lands - a crime in which both men were found guilty and punished.

The Hammonds’ conviction gained them celebrity status as supporters saw this as a case of government overreach. They claim that a fire started on the Hammonds’ own land accidentally crept onto public lands. Prosecutors alleged the Hammonds started the fire to cover up a poaching crime. In the end, the prosecutors and the justice system rendered a guilty verdict - and they were punished according to the law.

Instead of obeying the rule of law - something that Trump has talked about repeatedly - he thwarted it by pardoning those who had been rightfully convicted.

No one questions Trump’s power to pardon, but every pardon that’s granted undercuts and undermines the rule of law.

The Hammonds were convicted - and convicted rightfully in a court of law. Disagree or agree with the decision, that’s the rule of law. That’s the legal process and it must be respected, if, as the saying goes, we are a nation of laws.

Undercutting that, especially in a place like the West, which has had so many public land standoffs from the Sagebrush Rebellion to the Freemen, sends a dangerous message. It would seem to suggest that rebellions, even minor skirmishes set in somewhat unknown Oregon locations, against the federal government will be tolerated by (drum roll, please) the federal government itself.

Montana has had plenty of experience with these kind of groups and they don’t stand for the law, they stand for lawlessness.

When Montana’s lone Rep. Greg Gianforte commented on the case, he said he was grateful and that “This has to do with farmers and ranchers being treated fairly and respecting individual property rights.”

That Gianforte expressed gratitude that two men convicted justly were released seems to be more akin to thumbing his nose to the law. The ranchers were treated fairly - by the system that was in the best position to do so, the courts.

And, the Hammonds were not convicted for what they did to their property - they were convicted because of what they did to public lands.

It’s probably not surprising that Gianforte took such a strong stance with property owners and seems to have a vendetta against public land managers.

You may recall that Gianforte himself ran into a flap in Montana when he was accused of blocking public access to a river on his own property.

In 2009, East Gallatin LLC, a Gianforte company, sued Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in May 2009 to remove an easement that provided public access along the East Gallatin River. The case was later settled when the State of Montana agreed to a better trail and fence upgrade to keep people off the Gianforte property.

If the Hammonds had trashed private property like public property, there would be no sympathy and no reason for a pardon. But Trump’s pardon puts at least a second-class status on public land.

However, places like Montana thrive because there is public land to share and others come to enjoy it. We must demand that our politicians afford the same respect to public lands as they do to private parcels.

Editorial: https://bit.ly/2LjhV5c