I am fourth-generation Crowsnest Pass. My family emigrated here from Poland to work in the coal mines and for four generations my family has worked in the industry ensuring we had a good standard of living. People need to understand the facts about what is transpiring in southwest Alberta. Folks are confusing and combining two separate issues: the review of the Grassy Mountain project and the provincial coal mine policy. Albertans need education, not rhetoric, on coal mining Riversdale Resource’s Grassy Mountain project has been in the review process for six years. The opening of the coal mine policy in June 2020, by the Government of Alberta has nothing to do with this mine. The policy addresses future mines and does not affect existing applications by either Montem Resources or Riversdale Resources.
This seems to be getting lost in the rhetoric. Ranchers have taken the government’s perceived failure to consult on the mine policy to court, but the outcome will not affect the future of either Riversdale or Montem; the decision of the joint review panel will ,is important to note, in contrast to misinformation on social media, Riversdale Resources made its application to reopen the Grassy Mountain mine six years ago, went through years of consultation, has the support of Piikani, Kainai and Stoney First Nations, and a 30-day public hearing process just concluded. To say there was no consultation with local residents or First Nations simply is not true. In fact, the previous NDP provincial government had no concerns with the mine either.
The panel will now review all of their information and their decision will be based on science, data and the onus is on the proponent to prove the mine will not impact the environment or the watershed. Again, let’s be clear, Grassy Mountain was previously mined in an area I don’t hike because, quite honestly, it is a scar in the community and was never properly reclaimed.
Riversdale Resources is not tearing up a pristine area, they are reopening a previous mine, a mine they must reclaim. When discussing coal mines, selenium is a huge topic and should be. Let’s put emotion aside and talk science. Selenium is an element locked into the rock surrounding the coal. During mining, selenium can oxidize, enabling it to be released into water systems. Advancements in technology, such as saturated rock fills and active treatment tanks, have vastly improved the ability to keep selenium out of the watershed. For example, Teck Resources has made massive investments and will have the capacity to clean 47.5 million litres of water per day by the end of 2021 and 77.5 million by the end of 2024.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but In addition, reclamation activities have gone through significant changes. Resource companies must re-form the land to accommodate the habitat and the species of interest. The Crowsnest Pass, Pincher Creek and the surrounding communities desperately need economic opportunities. The statistics are stark. For example, the average household income in the Crowsnest Pass is more than 30 per cent lower than the provincial average. This tax base of the Crowsnest Pass is 77 per cent residential so by any measure our industrial tax base is non-existent. As a result, we have to make difficult choices. When the library needed funds we had a serious conversation about which roads would not get paved. In a recent survey, 70 per cent of Crowsnest Pass residents supported the mines. We had 700 people respond to the survey, or 15 per cent of our population. So, I feel comfortable saying the majority of our community is in favour of the mine while understanding recreation and tourism are also viable. However, despite strong support for the Grassy Mountain project, ranchers, country music artists, and activists are using their soapboxes to contradict the wishes of a clear majority of residents in what was once known as “business-friendly” Alberta. We all see the “Block the Mines” signs posted on the highways.
Are the people who posted these signs driving vehicles made of wood powered by sails? No, they need steel to operate their farms and ranches. Alberta needs coal as an economic opportunity as we recover from the current economic disaster.
Please, educate yourself. Understand what metallurgical coal is and that without it we don’t have steel. The world demands steel and if we don’t ethically produce it, someone will fill that niche. Understand modern-day mining, how selenium contamination is managed and how reclamation is done today. Understand that the changes to the provincial coal mine policy does not impact either of the current Riversdale or Montem applications. Coal made the Crowsnest Pass, and our community has been in decline since mining stopped decades ago. Now, new technology, new safeguards and the tightest environment restrictions in the world bring new opportunity and the possibility of metallurgical coal being our future.
Lisa Sygutek is owner and publisher of the Crowsnest Pass Herald and a councillor for the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.
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