Coal in the Eastern Slopes: September Update + Letter-Writing Tool

September 19, 2024

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• Action Alerts
• Areas of Concern
• Coal
• Rocky Mountain and Foothills Forests

Another day in the convoluted world of coal

By Kennedy Halvorson

Northback’s application for further coal exploration on Grassy Mountain, shouldn’t have been accepted by the Alberta Energy Regulator in the first place. That’s at least been the main point of contention in this resurfaced coal-mining-in-the-Eastern-Slopes business.

Most opponents to the proposal, including, us, believe that the potential for developing Grassy Mountain died the day it was jointly rejected by the province and the feds back in 2021, and with it, its status as an “advanced project.”

And thankfully, through the MD of Ranchland’s commendable efforts, this argument will finally get its day in the sun, or that is to say, in court. Alberta’s Court of Appeal recently granted the MD the right to appeal the Alberta Energy Regulator’s decision to accept the applications, based on three questions:

1. Did the AER improperly fetter its authority in accepting Northback’s applications?
2. Did the AER err by relying on the Minister’s letter in interpreting the Ministerial Order?
3. Did the AER err in its interpretation of the term “advanced coal project” in the Ministerial Order?

With no date set for the appeal yet, the MD has requested that the public hearing on Northback’s applications, set to begin in December of this year, be adjourned until this matter has been settled. As noted by the court’s justice, if the MD’s appeal is successful, it “may be dispositive of the applications in their entirety and avoid substantial expense and the consumption of limited regulatory resources.”

The justice also remarked that the outcomes of the appeal “has importance beyond the immediate parties because three other “projects” or lands are potentially affected by this interpretation of the [advanced projects] exception”. One of such projects is Coalspur’s proposal to expand their Vista coal mine near Hinton.

Should the project proceed, Vista would become the largest thermal coal mine in the country. This is problematic, as it’s well established that coal production must decline to keep global warming below acceptable thresholds. As the ninth largest exporter of thermal coal in the world (and seventh including metallurgical coal), Canada’s participation in reducing use and reliance on coal is not optional.

AWA sent a letter to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) in August to support Ecojustice’s request to designate the project for an impact assessment.

Short-term impacts to landscapes from coal mining can be quantified as loss in biodiversity, decreased ecosystem health and functioning, landscape alteration and fragmentation, increased air, water, and soil pollution, and increased water treatment cost, all of which have long-term implications for human health and climate change resiliency. Without a federal impact assessment, this expansion will further contribute to the ongoing environmental degradation occurring within Alberta’s eastern slopes and watersheds, and culminate in a legacy of industrial scars, ecological destruction, and emissions that Canada will be left to contend with for generations to come

Considering Canada’s pledge to end coal-fired electricity production nationally and phase out all thermal coal exports no later than 2030, an impact assessment would clarify how Vista’s proposed expansion is consistent with meeting federal climate commitments. As Vista will likely become a stranded asset post 2030, an assessment would address whether the increased footprint and associated impacts of the expanded mine are acceptable, recognizing that prevention of habitat destruction and maintenance of biodiversity and ecologically integrity are key for fostering climate resilience. An impact assessment would elucidate how shipping Vista’s proposed 15 megatons of thermal coal each year, the equivalent of 33 megatons of annual carbon emissions, is conscionable from a country committed to addressing climate change.

Join us in calling on ECCC to launch an impact assessment for the Vista coal mine expansion now, by sending a letter through Ecojustice’s template.