Report recommends Eastern Slopes coal ban

The Alberta government should consider banning coal mining in the Eastern Slopes because the negative impact on sectors such as agriculture will outweigh the economic benefits, says a University of Calgary report.

“Alberta’s history with coal development goes back to 1874, but 21st century social, economic and environmental factors demonstrate that it’s not in the public interest to pursue coal mining on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains,” said the report by researchers at the university’s School of Public Policy.

It was released Nov. 10, the same day the provincial government announced it is again extending a deadline for an independent coal policy committee that is reviewing public input for a new policy for Alberta.

The committee’s report detailing such input will now be submitted by Dec. 31, along with a final report with recommendations for Energy Minister Sonya Savage.

“Due to the extraordinary volume, breadth and depth of the input provided by Albertans, the Coal Policy Committee requested an extension … to ensure the committee is able to devote the necessary time and attention to the input they have received and to their recommendations,” said a joint statement by Savage and committee chair Ron Wallace.

The original date for the public engagement report was Oct. 15, with a date of Nov. 15 for the final report. However, it was decided to release both reports on Nov. 15 to give the committee more time, a measure which turned out to be insufficient.

The provincial government has also extended its moratorium on all coal exploration and activity in Category 2 lands in the Eastern Slopes “until further notice.” It was originally set to expire by the end of this year.

Although Ian Urquhart, executive director of the Alberta Wilderness Association, has expressed concerns about the public engagement process as established by the provincial government, he didn’t agree with critics who view such deadline extensions as a ploy to mislead people.

“I want to argue that if Savage wanted to railroad a pro-coal development policy, she would force the committee to stick to their deadline — in other words, if she knows they’re struggling to finish, say to them, ‘too bad. We need your report in a week’s time’ … so I think the fact that there is no rush to judgment here is (something) I want to interpret in a positive way.”

The report by the School of Public Policy involved five researchers, including Jennifer Winter, scientific director of the school’s Energy and Environmental Policy research division. They looked at the pros and cons of a hypothetical coal mine in the Eastern Slopes.

“Following on the heels of the federal government’s rejection of the Grassy Mountain coal project in southwestern Alberta, the provincial government should consider banning coal mining in the Eastern Slopes,” said the report. “Any future coal development policy should include a public-interest test that examines both monetary and non-monetary impacts.”

It estimated the economic benefits will be “overshadowed by the costs arising from the displacement of ranching, tourism and the negative environmental effects on water, vegetation, air and wildlife.”

Such effects will be compounded by the “probability that the Alberta government will pick up the tab for reclamation costs, and the adverse social impacts on local communities and on Indigenous people’s rights and interests … agriculture on the

prairies east and below the Eastern Slopes may be affected through coal exploration and development’s effects on water quantity and quality.”

These include adding to the impact on things such as the water quality of streams in the region caused by sedimentation from human activities. “More importantly, the mine would consume water as well as contribute to selenium and other contamination downstream.”

There were 12 proposed coal mines as of July, out of which two had entered the regulatory process, said the report. The Eastern Slopes contains the sources of rivers that supply water for much of Western Canada.

The report said water quantity and quality is critical to agriculture, with irrigation consuming more than 80 percent of the water in the Oldman River basin, “the same basin that would be affected by the new mine in our development scenario.”

The demands placed on “water supplies over the 2029 to 2048 period and the contribution of this new mine to water selenium and other contamination would be substantial. A new

mine would, especially in drought years that are expected to occur increasingly as climate change progresses, lead to higher costs of clean water supplies for agricultural and other users downstream.”

Ranchers in the Livingstone Landowners Group and Pekisko Group are opposed to coal development in the Eastern Slopes. Such producers would be affected by both coal exploration and mine development, said the report.

“Impacts on water quantity and quality would extend to ranchers given their dependence on water resources, creating higher costs of production or even limiting it altogether…. Secondly, any rancher(s) whose grazing leases overlap with the mine would lose access to these lands.”

Contact doug.ferguson@producer.com