In-Depth
Alberta’s ‘back door’ plan to free up billions of litres of water for coal mines raises alarm
Amid concerns about droughts, selenium pollution, at-risk species and Indigenous consultation, the Alberta government is poised to allow coal companies to undercut a functioning water market 20 min read
Rachel Herbert is the fourth generation of her family to ranch in the Porcupine Hills. Her kids will be the fifth. The eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains are visible from the family’s land: rolling prairie carpeted with native grasses where her cattle graze under big Alberta skies.
The Alberta government’s rescindment of a longstanding coal policy, leaving previously protected lands available to open-pit coal mining, has her concerned about her family’s livelihood. Mines could be tucked just behind Plateau Mountain, not far from the Herbert family ranch.
Investor presentations signalled the Kenney government aimed to open protected lands to open-pit mining.
Tyee contributing editor Andrew Nikiforuk is an award-winning journalist whose books and articles focus on epidemics, the energy industry, nature and more. SHARES Documents show Australian firms seeking open-pit coal mining leases in Alberta got signals protections to sensitive lands would be lifted, clearing the way. The public only found out months later, the day the Coal Policy was rescinded.
Photo: Shutterstock.
Australian mining firms seeking to strip-mine metallurgical coal in Alberta’s eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains knew well ahead of Albertans that the government was planning to rescind a law that stood in the way.
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The hearing in late 2020 to decide if Benga Mining should receive a permit to operate a coal mine on Grassy Mountain exemplifies how weak environmental protection of the Eastern Slopes truly is.
A hearing is a quasi-judicial process. It can be a panel of three Albertans or a federal-provincial panel. Lawyers present witnesses, many of them experts in their fields of science and engineering, and cross-examine them. The term “hired guns” applies. Naturally, like any court case, if not opposed (by groups like Livingstone Landowners, CPAWS and Alberta Wilderness Association) the panel very likely rules in favour of the mine. In other words, this province’s system for whether a mine proceeds essentially comes down to whether groups come forward and effectively oppose, and to the panel’s discretion whether it finds the mine’s environmental harm reasonable.
Article content
The hearing in late 2020 to decide if Benga Mining should receive a permit to operate a coal mine on Grassy Mountain exemplifies how weak environmental protection of the Eastern Slopes truly is.
A hearing is a quasi-judicial process. It can be a panel of three Albertans or a federal-provincial panel. Lawyers present witnesses, many of them experts in their fields of science and engineering, and cross-examine them. The term “hired guns” applies. Naturally, like any court case, if not opposed (by groups like Livingstone Landowners, CPAWS and Alberta Wilderness Association) the panel very likely rules in favour of the mine. In other words, this province’s system for whether a mine proceeds essentially comes down to whether groups come forward and effectively oppose, and to the panel’s discretion whether it finds the mine’s environmental harm reasonable.
KAINAI NATION, ALTA. There s not enough words in the English language to share how much this will impact First Nations; how much every time the land is destroyed, how much that that tears apart who we are as Niitsitapi, said Latasha Calf Robe. The member of the Blood Tribe (Kainai Nation) and founder of the Niitsitapi Water Protectors spoke at a town hall Jan. 21 focused on the changes to the provincial coal policy brought in by Alberta s current UCP government. A Coal Development Policy for Alberta, known also as the 1976 Coal Policy, was rescinded effective June 1, 2020 by the government. The policy protected large portions of land, like the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from strip mining.