Grassy Mountain Coal -- Image from CP

By Connor Gunn/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Review panel recommends Grassy Mountain Coal Project be denied

Jun 17, 2021 | 4:07 PM

CROWSNEST PASS, AB – The Joint Review Panel assessing Benga Mining Limited’s Grassy Mountain Coal Project has concluded its review and recommends the project to be stopped.

The panel submitted its report to the federal minister of environment and climate change and gave its “rationale, conclusions and recommendations for the Government of Canada.”

From the Alberta Government page, the panel concluded that the project is likely to result in:

• Significant adverse environmental effects on surface water quality, west slope cutthroat trout and its habitat, whitebark pine, rough fescue grasslands, and vegetation species and community biodiversity; and
• Significant adverse effects on the physical and cultural heritage of some First Nations.

The panel determined that the “adverse environmental effects on surface water quality and west slope cutthroat trout and its habitat” would outweigh the positive economic impacts of the project and the project is “not in the public interest.”

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In a joint statement from Energy Minister Sonya Savage and Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon issued Thursday, the two respect the recommendations given.

“The Alberta government respects the Joint Review Panel’s recommendation, which is the result of a rigorous review process carried out by the Alberta Energy Regulator and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.”

“All proposed coal projects are subject to stringent review to ensure development is safe, environmentally responsible and meets all requirements. In this case, the process worked as it should. The panel’s recommendation demonstrates that Alberta’s legislative and regulatory framework is robust and thoroughly considers environmental impacts as part of any resource development project.”

The panel then denied Benga’s applications under the Coal Conservation Act and related applications under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, Water Act, and Public Lands Act.

See the full release here.

Additional information from the Alberta government can be found below.

About the Project:

“Benga Mining Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Riversdale Resources Limited, proposed to construct and operate an open-pit metallurgical coal mine near the Crowsnest Pass, approximately seven kilometres north of the community of Blairmore, in southwest Alberta. As proposed, the production capacity of the project would have been a maximum of 4.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal per year over an operating mine-life of about 23 years.”