Crickets from Northback: Chris Spearman wants answers on coal mine pollution of Alberta agriculture

Former Lethbridge mayor and food processing executive calls out Northback for refusing to respond to specific questions regarding selenium and carcinogens

Greetings to Northback Holdings and Ministers of the Government of Alberta,

I have been trying unsuccessfully to obtain answers to the following questions for almost six months regarding the Grassy Mountain coal project.

Today, I am requesting your assistance in obtaining timely answers before the conclusion of the Alberta Energy Regulator hearings that are currently taking place with respect to this project.

1. Can Northback and the Government of Alberta give examples of municipalities that have successfully removed excess selenium from the water using treatment processes in their municipal water treatment plants?

2. Can Northback and the Government of Alberta provide details of proven and reliable treatment that has been used successfully to remove selenium from coal mine run off?

3. Did Borealis Environmental’s environmental assessment for Northback identify that two-thirds of Canada’s irrigated agricultural land depends on water from the Oldman River?

4. Are you aware of that Southwestern Alberta is home to Canada’s largest intensive livestock industry with a large number of farms and confined feeding operations raising animals for beef, pork and poultry ?

5. Is Northback aware of the potential impact of wind blown coal dust on lakes, snow melt and ultimately groundwater? Has Northback assessed the risks associated with our volatile chinook winds? And have you developed a credible plan to contain wind blown coal dust? What rivers, streams and lakes east of Grassy Mountain could suffer the same fate as Window Mountain Lake?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/coal-study-mountaintop-contamination-lake-alberta-1.6639875

6. A study conducted by scientists from the Alberta government and the University of Alberta concluded cancer-causing chemicals are being blown downwind in concentrations that are comparable to those next to oil sands.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10576337/bc-alberta-coal-dust-snowpack-study/

7. Can Northback assure everyone that Borealis Environmental has completed a thorough environmental assessment?

8. Have you developed detailed strategies to ensure that harmful levels of selenium do not impact the Oldman River water system? If so, where are these detailed plans available?

The federal environmental assessment of the Grassy Mountain Coal project in 2021 concluded that developing a coal site with a 20 to 30 year expected life was just not worth the risk.

9. Given the substantial private and public investment in agricultural food processing and irrigated farming worth billions of dollars, over the past 70 years, why is Northback proceeding, despite the risks that have been identified?

10. What has changed since 2021 that makes Grassy Mountain a viable project?

Northback Holdings should be required to provide full and detailed answers to these questions at the hearings being conducted by the Alberta Energy Regulator.

I look forward to hearing and finally receiving the answers before a final decision on the Grassy Mountain coal project has been made.

I began submitting questions as requested by Northback’s environmental consultants Borealis Environmental, following the Selenium Information meeting held in Blairmore on June 12, 2024. After asking questions for almost six months, I have yet to receive a single answer to one of my questions.

Borealis Environmental advises me that Northback must be involved in their responses and I should now write directly to Northback. They also state that I should not expect a response to my questions for at least two months ( after the AER hearings have concluded ? ).

Hopefully, the Alberta Energy Regulator ( AER ) will deem Northback’s public engagement process to be a failure and will deny their application for the Grassy Mountain coal project until they provide answers.

I believe the more than 200,000 people, the businesses and the municipalities in the Oldman River basin deserve answers now while the Alberta Energy Regulator hearings are taking place so we can be assured that our concerns have been addressed.

About 20 years ago, the Alberta beef industry was shut down due to a single identified case of mad cow disease. It’s not unrealistic that in the future, a shipment of frozen potato products ( or any other food product ) from Southern Alberta could be rejected by food inspection agencies in the United States, Japan or any other of our export markets due to excessively high levels of selenium.

The resulting shutdown of food production in Southern Alberta would be devastating to our economy.

Yours truly,

Chris Spearman
Resident MD Pincher Creek, Alberta