News Release: Alberta silent on government science showing selenium makes Crowsnest fish unsafe to eat
“Any new development of coal mining along the eastern slopes may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond recovery.”
Crowsnest Headwaters
For immediate release Monday, June 2, 2024
Alberta silent on government science showing selenium makes Crowsnest fish unsafe to eat
“Any new development of coal mining along the eastern slopes may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond recovery,” say Alberta government scientists in bombshell report that should sound death knell for Australian coal schemes.
Crowsnest Pass, Alberta — The Government of Alberta has a public health duty to advise anglers against consuming fish from the Crowsnest River system according to its own environmental scientists, said the river stewardship group Crowsnest Headwaters today. So far, Alberta has ignored a clear warning from its own environment department that that public be advised of the health risk.
A bombshell report by environment ministry scientists remains unpublished on government websites. It appeared May 27 on the website bioRxiv which disseminates pre-publication scientific research. Link to report
“The government must act immediately to force the Australian owners of two abandoned coal mines to contain their selenium effluent that continues to poison the Crowsnest system,” said Crowsnest Headwaters communications director David Thomas.
The environment ministry report says symptoms of fish fatalities and deformities widely thought by anglers to be from whirling disease may in fact be due to selenium poisoning.
“This report by the government of Alberta’s top water and aquatic toxicology scientists clearly indicates that the Australian-owned Grassy Mountain and Tent Mountain coal mines continue to poison the Crowsnest River system upon which hundreds of thousands of Alberta citizens, growers and food processors depend,” said Thomas.
“The market viability of Southern Alberta food products will be destroyed if the government continues to tolerate selenium poisoning from the mine properties of Evolve Power (aka Montem Resources) and Hancock Prospecting (aka Riversdale, Benga, Northback),” said Thomas.
Downstream communities, including Lethbridge, could eventually see their critical source of drinking water — the Oldman River — condemned unless the coal mine selenium poisoning is reversed. The neighboring British Columbia towns of Sparwood and Fernie have already seen municipal wells permanently condemned because of poisoning from Elk Valley coal mines where more than $1 billion dollars of investment have failed to remove selenium from runoff into the Elk River.
The Alberta government report states unequivocally that allowing Hancock Prospecting to proceed with its Grassy Mountain coal project could be fatal to the Crowsnest/Oldman fish populations.
“Premier Danielle Smith promised in April that only underground mining would be permitted at Grassy Mountain. Hancock Prospecting now needs to prove it will not stockpile underground mine waste rock outdoors where rain and snow would dissolve selenium and carry it into the Crowsnest River,” said Thomas. “We know of no technology to prevent that.”
“The only course available now is to cancel Hancock’s mining rights and pay the price arising from Hancock’s current lawsuit, less whatever it will cost to contain Grassy Mountain selenium. The same goes for Evolve Power and its lawsuit against Alberta taxpayers,” said Thomas.
“The alternative is the destruction of Southern Alberta agribusiness and the long-distance piping of water from alternate safe sources to supply the needs of Lethbridge and other Oldman River populations.”
Key findings of the Government of Alberta report:
From the Abstract:
The clinical signs of selenium poisoning in fish are similar to the symptoms of Whirling Disease, which was first detected in the Crowsnest basin in 2016 making this the first aquatic system to be impacted by both stressors. This finding demonstrates that the biological impacts of MTR coal mining can persist long after mining operations end, and it suggests that any further coal mine development may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond sustainability.
From Methods:
These mine water discharge events have been occurring for decades, and the mine water enters the Crowsnest River. Therefore, while runoff available from Tent Mountain provides a constant input of legacy selenium to the Crowsnest Lake and River system, this input is likely augmented by periods of contaminated mine water discharge into Crowsnest River from Grassy Mountain Mine.
From Discussion:
Current (2024) fishing regulations in Crowsnest Lake allow for the harvesting of any size of brown and lake trout but only mountain whitefish longer than 300 mm can be kept by anglers. Given the sportsfish we measured had selenium concentrations comparable to the fisheries mentioned above in the United States, consumption advisories for the Crowsnest Lake and Crowsnest River system seem warranted.
Crowsnest Lake and its outlet, the Crowsnest River, are highly stressed aquatic ecosystems. In addition to the emergence of Whirling Disease, declining snowpack and increased drought, year-round recreational angling pressure, and now our new evidence for elevated selenium in fish, make Crowsnest Lake and River an especially vulnerable system. Any new development of coal mining along the eastern slopes may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond recovery.
Photo: Master angler John Poirier fishes Crowsnest River Credit David Thomas
For further information:
David Thomas, Crowsnest Headwaters
administrator@crowsnestheadwaters.ca
403.562.8032
Of coursé they’re silent, get on the news with this.
Dani and the United Corrupt Party must go.