2025 February Newsletter

Coal in Alberta

Voices across the province are speaking out against coal. From urban areas like Edmonton and Calgary, to rural communities like Rocky Mountain House and Cadomin: people are concerned about the Government of Alberta’s decision to lift the moratorium on coal. Projects in the Eastern Slopes could move forward as early as this spring and could have far reaching impacts on water, wildlife, recreation and Treaty Rights. Read more about coal in Alberta here.

Protests have been happening across the province, from gatherings outside the Alberta Energy Regulator building, the Raging Grannies in Lethbridge and a crowd of over 300 in front of the Alberta Legislature.

Government of Alberta Responds to Coal Form Letters with Form Letter

As mentioned earlier, thousands of Albertans have sent a letter to the Government of Alberta voicing their concern and anger regarding the government’s decision to put the health of Alberta’s Eastern Slopes and Alberta’s communities in jeopardy. Adding insult to injury, if you’ve sent a CPAWS form letter, you may have received a response from the Government of Alberta “encouraging you to inform yourself about the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative.” Yikes.

Here are the facts:

• The Government of Alberta is relying on the 1976 Coal Policy to guide the industry’s development. That policy is outdated, and Alberta communities have published a guiding document on what a new policy should look like “A Coal Policy for Alberta – 2022 and Beyond.”
• The Coal Industry Modernization Initiative (CIMI) will be an industry-led policy that makes promises that are unlikely to be kept. Read more about CIMI here.
• The situation that we are in began in 2020. The Government of Alberta removed the 1976 Coal Policy and sold hundreds of thousands of hectares in coal leases. The policy was reinstated, and a moratorium on coal was put in place. Now that the moratorium has been lifted, those companies with coal leases (which would not exist if it wasn’t for the rescission of the policy in 2020!) may proceed.

Our colleagues from CPAWS Southern Alberta have developed an excellent resource if you would like to craft your own letter in response to the Government of Alberta’s reply.

Coal companies have poor environmental track records: a recent case

We were disappointed to learn that CST Coal will be fined a nominal fee of $9,000 by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for releasing mine wastewater into the Smoky River in March 2023. The incident was subject to an AER investigation where it was found that CST Coal released mine wastewater into the environment that exceeded permitted limits and that the company failed to immediately report the released wastewater. Incidents such as these raise serious doubts about coal mine companies’ ability to manage mine waste and safeguard aquatic ecosystems. Meagre fines do little to incentivize company investments into rigorous environmental protection protocols that protect Alberta’s communities, species at risk, wildlife and waters. Read more.

CPAWS will “get its day in court” against Mine 14

CPAWS Northern Alberta and the Alberta Wilderness Association applied to participate in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s public hearing for Summit Coal Inc.’s Mine 14 – and we were successful! Participating in the public hearing will allow CPAWS to raise important environmental concerns with the mine that otherwise may not be considered such as its impacts to water, species at risk, other wildlife and broader ecological impact.

It is incredibly rare for organizations like ours to be granted this type of access to public hearings and as a result, Summit Coal Inc. has requested the AER to PAUSE the process so that it can consult with investors and key stakeholders.

In opposition to Mine 14, CPAWS can participate in the hearing by:

• File submissions for the hearing and speak to those submission
• Be questioned by Summit Coal Inc. and in turn, be cross-examined by the company
• Submit final arguments against the Mine 14 Project

Film Screening: Dry Horizons

Friday, April 25th 2025 Metro Cinema | 8712 109 St NW, Edmonton Doors at 5:30 PM

Please join us for a screening of a new documentary on the Eastern Slopes produced by CPAWS Northern Alberta!

The Eastern Slopes are the home of our headwaters, and the drinking water of more than 2 million Albertans. Dry Horizons explores the threats posed to them, and our regional water quality and quantity, by overuse and abuse, industrial resource extraction — including coal and forestry — and the failures of current government policy.

GET TICKETS HERE

In the News

• $9,000 fine for coal mine leak into Alberta river a ‘slap on the wrist,’ critics say
• The charges against Imperial Oil are necessary but do not substitute for reform of the provincial energy regulator
• CNRL was fined $278K after hundreds of birds died in a tailings pond. Now it has launched an appeal
• What will be Edmonton’s City Bird?
• After back to back years of climate disasters, fewer Canadians understand climate change is real than before
• Coal mine pollution: international inquiry details plan to investigate Canada, U.S. contamination