CPAWS Northern Alberta Gets Full Participation in Summit Coal Inc.’s Mine 14 Hearing

Edmonton, AB – CPAWS Northern Alberta along with the Alberta Wilderness Association, Driftpile Cree Nation, Louis Bull Tribe, Sucker Creek First Nation, and Lac St. Anne Metis have been granted full participation in an upcoming Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) hearing (Proceeding 449) on Summit Coal Inc.’s Mine 14 project.

Mine 14 is a potential underground metallurgical coal project near Grande Cache, Alberta.

The Alberta Energy Regulator’s public hearing will decide Summit Coal Inc.’s application status for the project. It is rare for organizations like CPAWS to be granted this type of access (full participation) to public hearings. The public hearing for full participants will be held in Calgary, Alberta on October 21, 2025.

Receiving full participation in the hearing is a win as it will allow CPAWS to raise important environmental concerns with the mine that otherwise may not be considered. Impacts include risks to water, species at risk and other wildlife. Specifically, this mine will be within a key wildlife and biodiversity areas with potential to impact species such as trout, grizzly bears, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and nearby caribou populations.

What does this participation mean? In opposition to Mine 14, CPAWS can:

• file written submissions for the hearing panel
• speak to those submissions at the hearing
• be questioned by Summit Coal Inc.
• cross-examine Summit Coal Inc.
• Submit final arguments

The Mine 14 project has quietly continued making its way through regulatory permits and approvals despite the fact that the mine permit and license are both over 10 years old and based on an even older environmental assessment. Mine 14 was not impacted by the moratorium set in 2022 and its removal in 2025 as it was listed as an exempt project.

CPAWS Northern Alberta is granted full participation for the hearing because of its participation in sub-regional planning, which would be impacted by the Mine 14 project, and its previous work on the Conservation Blueprint for Northern Alberta which identified the project’s area as a high priority for protection due to its irreplaceable value for biodiversity conservation.

“It is incredibly rare for organizations like ours to be granted this type of participation in public hearings.” Says Tara Russell, Program Director, CPAWS Northern Alberta, “When projects such as coal mines are proposed where many Albertans have spoken out against, it is essential that those interests to safeguard nature are given a strong voice in consideration of the project’s ability to move forward. It’s about time organizations like ours have a seat at the table.”

For more information, contact: 

Tara Russell, Program Director, CPAWS Northern Alberta
[email protected]