EDMONTON – CPAWS welcomes announcement of project withdrawal of environmentally devastating Frontier oil sands mine

CPAWS welcomes the announcement by Teck Resources Limited CEO, Don Lindsay, that the company has withdrawn their application for the Frontier oil sands mine.  In Teck’s letter to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Don Lindsay cites the need to address policy frameworks for tackling climate change and expresses urgent need to reduce global carbon emissions through carbon pricing and legislated caps for oil sands emissions.

The mine, if it had been approved and built would have been the largest open-pit oil sands mine in North America, and would have caused significant adverse environmental impacts. The announcement from Teck comes just days before the federal Cabinet deadline to reject, approve, or delay the decision for the proposed project.

CPAWS Northern Alberta has opposed the mine for several years. Since 2017, CPAWS Northern Alberta participated as official intervenors in the public consultation process. Our submissions to the Joint Review Panel and statements at the public hearings consistently addressed our biggest concerns with the mine:

• • With its close proximity to Wood Buffalo National Park, only 30-km south of the Park, the proposed mine posed major threats to the ecological integrity of the Park and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, one of the largest freshwater inland deltas;
  • The project would have removed thousands of hectares of wetland and old-growth boreal habitat, impacting many species at risk, including the endangered Whooping Crane and the threatened Ronald Lake Wood Bison herd;
  • By introducing roughly 5,000 hectares of tailings ponds, the project would have increased risks for the nearly 1 million migratory birds, including endangered whooping cranes, that flyover the proposed mine area;
  • The project’s greenhouse gas emissions would have strongly inhibited Canada’s ability to meet its international greenhouse gases reduction targets;

Thanks to our supporters, these concerns were heard loud and clear. The strong public opposition to the mine speaks to these unavoidable adverse impacts and demonstrated the strength of our voices as Canadians that care about our natural heritage. The project withdrawal signals Teck’s understanding that environmental and climate impacts should be at the forefront of any discussion of development in our boreal forests.