The MD of Ranchlands is appealing a decision by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to allow public hearings on a controversial coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass.In documents released by the AER, the MD is appealing a decision to exempt Australian mining firm Northback Holdings from blanket restrictions on coal mining for its proposed Grassy Mountain mine near Crowsnest Pass.The municipal council is alleging that Energy and Mines Minister Brian Jean improperly intervened to allow public hearings into a series of exploration and water diveersion licences scheduled for June.In filings, Ranchlands said that the AER “abdicated its decision-making responsibilities in reaching the decision by improperly fettering its discretion in the face of a non-binding letter from the minister of energy.”.Northback — formerly operating as Benga Mining Limited, also based in Australia — is seeking approval for an open pit metallurgical mine on a site that had previously been in operation since the 1870s. The last of those mines was closed in the 1980s.Benga had previously applied for and submitted environmental impact assessments to the Alberta and federal governments that were completed in 2016.In May 2020, then environment minister Jason Nixon announced the UCP government under premier Jason Kenney was rescinding a Lougheed-era land use policy that placed restrictions on new coal mines in protected areas along the eastern slopes over concerns for water contamination.In less than six months from June, 2020 to January 2021, the AER issued new leases covering more than a million hectares in some of Alberta’s most popular ranching and recreational areas.The ensuing public backlash was so intense, the UCP was forced to relent and in August of that year rejected the Grassy Mountain project based on a joint review that determined it not to be “in the public interest.”.The UCP has since introduced blanket restrictions on all new mining applications expect for those considered to be “advanced projects” that have submitted project summaries to the AER.According to the Canadian Parks and Wildlife Society (CPAWS) Southern Alberta chapter, the application is moot because it was already rejected under the government’s own policies. “With that decision Benga no longer had an active application, and therefore no longer had an advanced coal project and so Northback as its successor cannot claim to have an advanced coal project.” Last year Teck Resources was fined $1.4 million for contamination at a mine in the Elk Valley, just across the Alberta border. Critics like the Alberta Rancher’s are worried it will happen here, including a group of Southern Alberta ranchers who have sued the government to release thousands of Kenney-era documents related to the file.In April, the UCP government filed an appeal of a judge’s order ordering the release of those documents relating to lobbying efforts by mining companies and specifically the Grassy Mountain mine.This, after Premier Danielle Smith promised in the legislature to comply with the judge’s order.“All documents required by the courts will be released," Jean said in a statement released on April 25. "We are releasing the majority of these documents once FOIP reviews have been completed on the unreviewed sections. We are filing a limited appeal on a small number of documents, once that process is complete we will release any information required.".Opinion polls have found that a massive majority of Albertans — on the order of 77% — have “concerns” over coal mining in the Rockies and 69% oppose it outright, according to a September, 2021 Leger survey.
The MD of Ranchlands is appealing a decision by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to allow public hearings on a controversial coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass.In documents released by the AER, the MD is appealing a decision to exempt Australian mining firm Northback Holdings from blanket restrictions on coal mining for its proposed Grassy Mountain mine near Crowsnest Pass.The municipal council is alleging that Energy and Mines Minister Brian Jean improperly intervened to allow public hearings into a series of exploration and water diveersion licences scheduled for June.In filings, Ranchlands said that the AER “abdicated its decision-making responsibilities in reaching the decision by improperly fettering its discretion in the face of a non-binding letter from the minister of energy.”.Northback — formerly operating as Benga Mining Limited, also based in Australia — is seeking approval for an open pit metallurgical mine on a site that had previously been in operation since the 1870s. The last of those mines was closed in the 1980s.Benga had previously applied for and submitted environmental impact assessments to the Alberta and federal governments that were completed in 2016.In May 2020, then environment minister Jason Nixon announced the UCP government under premier Jason Kenney was rescinding a Lougheed-era land use policy that placed restrictions on new coal mines in protected areas along the eastern slopes over concerns for water contamination.In less than six months from June, 2020 to January 2021, the AER issued new leases covering more than a million hectares in some of Alberta’s most popular ranching and recreational areas.The ensuing public backlash was so intense, the UCP was forced to relent and in August of that year rejected the Grassy Mountain project based on a joint review that determined it not to be “in the public interest.”.The UCP has since introduced blanket restrictions on all new mining applications expect for those considered to be “advanced projects” that have submitted project summaries to the AER.According to the Canadian Parks and Wildlife Society (CPAWS) Southern Alberta chapter, the application is moot because it was already rejected under the government’s own policies. “With that decision Benga no longer had an active application, and therefore no longer had an advanced coal project and so Northback as its successor cannot claim to have an advanced coal project.” Last year Teck Resources was fined $1.4 million for contamination at a mine in the Elk Valley, just across the Alberta border. Critics like the Alberta Rancher’s are worried it will happen here, including a group of Southern Alberta ranchers who have sued the government to release thousands of Kenney-era documents related to the file.In April, the UCP government filed an appeal of a judge’s order ordering the release of those documents relating to lobbying efforts by mining companies and specifically the Grassy Mountain mine.This, after Premier Danielle Smith promised in the legislature to comply with the judge’s order.“All documents required by the courts will be released," Jean said in a statement released on April 25. "We are releasing the majority of these documents once FOIP reviews have been completed on the unreviewed sections. We are filing a limited appeal on a small number of documents, once that process is complete we will release any information required.".Opinion polls have found that a massive majority of Albertans — on the order of 77% — have “concerns” over coal mining in the Rockies and 69% oppose it outright, according to a September, 2021 Leger survey.
