Milner Public Library Suites 628 – 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2V4
February 18, 2021 BRIEFING NOTE: Open-pit coal mining in the North Saskatchewan watershed and impacts to the City of Edmonton
Prepared by CPAWS Northern Alberta for Edmonton City Council Executive Summary ● On June 1, 2020 the Government of Alberta rescinded the Coal Development Policy for Alberta (Coal Policy) ● No public consultation was conducted on the removal of the policy ● The recent reinstatement of the coal policy does not eliminate the risk of open pit coal mining and its impacts to Edmonton’s source of drinking water (the Bighorn region) ● While the policy was removed a large number of new leases were granted in the Bighorn ● The Valory Blackstone project was granted exploration permits (meaning they can build roads and drill test pits) that may be allowed to go forward as soon as this spring ● There is still no land-use plan for the North Saskatchewan Region to manage cumulative impacts of overlapping industrial and recreational land uses ● Any replacement of the Coal Policy should include full public and Indigenous consultation and the City of Edmonton should be considered as a major stakeholder ● Several communities have taken a stance against the removal of the Coal Policy and have requested that all exploration and development activities are stopped until robust consultation has been conducted on a replacement for the Policy
Overview ● The 1976 Coal Policy, developed over years of work and public consultation, outlined four categories for coal development. Category 1 prohibited mining and Category 2 restricted open-pit coal mines. These two categories worked to restrict open-pit coal mines in 75% of the North Saskatchewan River’s source watersheds. Rescinding the Coal Policy decreases this area to 41%. o During the extensive public consultations that resulted in the 1975 Coal Policy, Albertans overwhelmingly said that the eastern slopes should be dedicated to watershed protection, recreation, and tourism.1 o After the policy rescission, the right of first refusal was given to existing coal lease application holders to convert to active coal leases until September 15, 2020. In December, new applications were allowed.
1https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/morally-and-ethically-wrong-court-to-hear-challenge-to-alberta-coal-policy-removal-1.5270331
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Category 2 Lands in the Source Watersheds for Edmonton Coal Lease Coal Applications Leases
May 2020 (pre-announcement) 143,107 ha 34,354 ha
January 2021 1,027 ha 149,060 ha
● On February 8, 2021, the Coal Policy was reinstated, however; o All leases issued since June 1, 2020 remain, including 149,060 ha in Edmonton’s headwaters (Figure 1). o Seven exploration permits in Category 2 lands were granted 2019 -2020, covering 32,237 ha of land. The February 8 release2 states six of these will be allowed to continue coal exploration and drilling. ▪ Valory Resources’ Blackstone project, in Edmonton’s headwaters was one of the recipients of an exploration permit that may be allowed to continue. o Exploration activities, such as road building, land clearing, and drilling can be environmentally damaging.
Managing Open-Pit Coal mining in Edmonton’s Headwaters ● There is still no land-use plan for the North Saskatchewan Region to manage cumulative impacts of overlapping industrial and recreational land uses. - Policy is not strong enough to secure the future of Edmonton’s water source - Land use plans are legally binding, and can address social, environmental, and economic considerations, and contain requirements for consultation. The Land Use Framework may be the best place to manage the replacement of the Coal Policy.3 ● There are 149,060 ha of coal leases, with two open-pit mine projects in the stage of exploration and planning within the category 2 lands in Edmonton’s source waters: Ram River Coal’s Aries Mine, 357 km upstream from Edmonton, and Valory Resources’ Blackstone Mine, 398 km upstream from Edmonton (Figure 2). ● Ram River Coal’s proposed Aries open-pit mine will be located in the Ram River and Upper North Saskatchewan River watersheds. Ram River Coal’s leases overlap the North and South Ram Rivers in the south and Rough Creek in the north, which flows into the North Saskatchewan River. At its closest point, the Aries mine’s proposed extent will be approximately 1 km upslope of the Ram River (Figure 3). ● In December, new leases were issued immediately adjacent to Goldeye Lake, Fish Lake, and Crescent Falls, popular recreation destinations for Edmontonians, and upstream of the City’s water source (Figure 4).
2 https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=7723219A0121E-AE44-C247-C36E68DE88B98FB1 3 https://ablawg.ca/2021/02/09/what-are-the-implications-of-reinstating-the-1976-coal-development-policy/
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● Mines are evaluated by the Alberta Energy Regulator on a project by project basis. Participating in the replacement of the Coal Policy, as a major stakeholder, could proactively address the cumulative threats of coal mining in Edmonton’s headwaters. ● EPCOR’s headwaters protection plan deems coal ‘low risk’, and only 17% of Edmonton’s headwaters are protected4. In comparison, under the City of Calgary’s headwaters protection plan, 63% are protected.
Ecological and water impacts ● Coal development causes loss of habitat for species at risk, including bull trout and grizzly bears. ● Industrial development in the headwaters region can harm the resiliency of water quality and quantity in the face of climate change5 ● Coal mining leaches heavy metals, including selenium into the water: o The proposed mines are upstream of Edmonton’s water supply, and close to tributaries that feed into the North Saskatchewan River o High concentrations of selenium is toxic to humans and fish6 o Selenium pollution from mines in B.C.’s Elk Valley has caused the collapse of a trout population downstream7 and forced the nearby community of Sparwood to search for a new water source8. Teck Resources has invested hundreds of millions of dollars towards mitigating the toxic levels of selenium downstream, but has still been unable to find a permanent solution. o Recent reports9 have indicated some Albertan rivers and streams are still contaminated by coal mining activities from decades ago. In several cases, selenium levels in streams were on average four to eleven times higher than the levels considered safe for aquatic life, despite years of reclamation and two of the mines upstream having closed almost 20 years ago. ● In the 2013 Obed coal mine disaster 670 million litres of coal process water was released into tributaries near Hinton, Alberta. The plume of tailings water travelled more than 1,100km down the Athabasca River, depositing suspended sediments, nutrients, and heavy metals. Spring runoff mobilizes contaminants each year, leaving concerns with long-term impacts of this release10. ● 77% of Edmontonians surveyed felt commercial use of public land should not be allowed where it could potentially have a negative impact on water quality.11
4 https://www.epcor.com/products-services/water/Documents/source-water-protection-plan.pdf#page=20 5 https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/113/32/9117.full.pdf 6https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/air-land-water/water/waterquality/water-quality-guidelines/approved- wqgs/bc_moe_se_wqg.pdf 7 https://www.teck.com/media/2014-Water-review_environment_canada-T3.2.3.2.1.pdf 8 https://www.e-know.ca/regions/elk-valley/sparwood/district-bringing-new-drinking-water-well-online/ 9 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/selenium-alberta-coal-mines-contamination-1.5886293 10 https://norj.ca/2013/12/scientist-expects-long-term-damage-from-coal-spill/ 11 https://aref.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Bighorn-Headwaters-Polling-Y2Y-FINAL_2016.pdf#page=18
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Recreational impacts ● Alberta’s eastern slopes are a popular recreation destination for Edmontonians and a tourism draw for the region as a whole. Open-pit coal mining would conflict with recreation values of this area through destruction of views and restriction of access and trails for recreation users. ● Decreased angling opportunities in Alberta’s rivers including the Ram River, which is one of Alberta’s best bull trout fisheries and provides habitat for Alberta’s last strong populations of bull trout.12 ● Increased industrial access roads and traffic in the region could deter tourism and recreation.
The City of Edmonton would not be alone in taking a stance on coal mining in Alberta’s Eastern Slopes. Many communities13 across Alberta took a stance on the Coal Policy rescission. However, the recent reinstatement of the Coal Policy does not eliminate the risk of coal development in Alberta’s headwaters. High River and Banff have requested that all exploration and development activities are stopped until the current coal policy is replaced using a process that includes robust public and Indigenous consultation.14
12https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/central-alberta-naturalists-fear-pristine-headwaters-will-be-contaminated-by-coal-mine/ 13https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/more-southern-alberta-communities-voice-concern-over-provinces-plans-to-expand-coal 14https://www.stalberttoday.ca/beyond-local/banff-council-calls-on-alberta-government-to-immediately-stop-existing-coal- exploration-3369869
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Figures:
An interactive Google Map showing the Coal Categories, coal leases and the Aries and Blackstone mines can be found here: https://www.google.ca/maps/d/u/1/viewer?mid=1BVMAcn5nu0llxF2ITX_uYMvm8oc8DYIa&ll
Figure 1. Coal leases and agreements in Edmonton’s headwaters.
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Figure 2. Coal agreements and coal leases by company in the North Saskatchewan River’s headwaters, with the Aries and Blackstone Projects outlined in black. According to the Valory’s investor report "Valory Resources Inc. (“Valory” or the “Company”) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Black Eagle Mining (“Black Eagle”), … which owns 100% of the Blackstone coking coal project in Alberta, Canada."
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Figure 3. Visualization of the footprint of Ram River Coal Corporation’s Aries Mine.
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Figure 4. Old and new coal agreements surround popular tourist destinations of Crescent Falls, Goldeye Lake, and Fish Lake near Nordegg, AB.
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