In response to our request of September 8, 2026, Alberta environment minister Grant Hunter entirely evaded the issue with irrelevant blather about the government’s testing of selenium levels in surface water.
We know from the government’s own study of fish tissue in Crowsnest Lake that bioaccumulation pushes selenium tissue in fish well above levels in the water itself.
Recklessly, the Alberta government is ignoring recent science that shows one-third of food fish downstream of Piikani Nation are toxic for humans.
Disloyally, the Alberta government is again placing the greed of a foreign coal speculator above the health and well-being of Albertans. The Smith government is well-aware that revealing the truth about selenium toxicity in the Oldman River would kill any prospect for Australia’s Northback of re-mining Grassy Mountain.
Grassy Mountain’s own CEO Brad Johnson recently told Bloomberg News’ Wall Street Week that a selenium treatment plant at Grassy Mountain would have to run for a minimum of 50 years — twice its estimate of the mine’s life.
Here is Hunter’s dismissive response:
My department recognizes the importance of watershed health, protection of aquatic ecosystems, and the interests of Indigenous communities and other watershed residents. EPA undertakes monitoring activities based on departmental priorities, available resources, and information needs across the province.
EPA staff conduct monthly selenium monitoring at specific locations within the Oldman River watershed. This includes three locations on the mainstem river and 14 locations across nine other waterways feeding into the Oldman River. Targeted studies in the Crowsnest River headwaters demonstrated certain areas where water quality and fish tissue samples exceeded provincial selenium guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. These studies are publicly available and have informed follow-up actions from appropriate regulators and government departments.
Additional studies from regional stakeholders build on this provincial monitoring work and help further our collective understanding of conditions across the basin.
At this time, the department has no plans to initiate further fish health studies in the Crowsnest River and Oldman River Reservoir; however, EPA continues to review information from a variety of sources to help inform future monitoring and management decisions. We will consider this information through established planning and priority-setting processes to determine future monitoring activities.
And here is Crowsnest Headwaters’ response delivered October 13:
Dear Minister Hunter,
Thank you for the illuminating response on how your department is neglecting the issue of selenium contamination of food fish that are routinely caught and consumed by members of the Piikani Nation.
It is troubling the response did not deal with the critical need for targeted, timely monitoring of selenium levels in fish tissue in the Crowsnest and Oldman watersheds to determine the downstream effects of legacy coal mines, especially in light of our report on the apparent downstream movement of selenium through the Piikani Nation Reserve.
Your response did not address the key query from our original letter dated September 8, 2026:
“When will your department undertake comprehensive, systematic monitoring of selenium concentrations in fish through the length of the Crowsnest River, the Oldman Reservoir, and the Oldman River downstream of the dam, with appropriate natural baseline sampling of the Castle and Upper Oldman rivers?”
We note that in your answer on monthly selenium monitoring you neglected to point out that none of the “long term river monitoring sites” include the Crowsnest River watershed. We would also point out there are no monitoring stations on the Castle River, which would prove important to provide baseline and comparative information on water quality from an unaffected watershed. Does your department anticipate adding these two watersheds to long term water quality monitoring?
It is also evident, and your knowledgeable staff can brief you on this, that water quality monitoring is only one facet of understanding issues of selenium contamination. Even when water quality sampling does not detect an issue, fish may still be affected, through the process of bioaccumulation from biofilm and aquatic invertebrates. Waiting until selenium concentrations are exceeded in fish flesh precludes reasonable, timely action before consuming the fish becomes toxic to humans, as has happened with Crowsnest Lake and the Oldman River where it exits the Piikani Nation Reserve.
Since your Department has already identified issues with selenium in the headwaters, in Crowsnest Lake, it would seem evident that comprehensive monitoring of selenium concentrations in fish flesh throughout the Crowsnest watershed and downstream would be an important next step. When do you anticipate this to happen?
We note that water quality monitoring of selenium in the Oldman River, downstream of the Oldman reservoir (site AB05AA1595), show signs of reaching the Alberta Alert Concentration for the protection of aquatic life. Is this of concern to your department and what is the strategy for dealing with this issue?
You note in your response that studies “have informed follow-up actions from appropriate regulators and government departments.” Could you please elaborate on what, specifically, these “follow-up actions” have entailed?
It would seem evident that addressing the issues of selenium contamination from legacy coal mines, the impacts of selenium on fish populations and the aquatic environment, on water quality concerns, and on the health of downstream water users would be a priority for your department and the Alberta government. We hope you share this perspective.
Sincerely yours,
David Thomas
Crowsnest Headwaters
Crowsnest Headwaters is a purely volunteer group of citizens committed to the protection and recovery of the Crowsnest/Oldman watershed from decades of coal mining and clear cutting. We rely on your donations to continue our work in the field, in the laboratory and in the courts. Please donate what you can by Interac eTransfer to funding@crowsnestheadwaters.ca
You state that the Castle River is an "unaffected watershed", however, I'd say that although I don't have any proof that even the Castle could show some selenium from decades of air drift from previous coal mines in the Pass, although probably to a much lesser extent since it is further to the south of the prevailing winds. The amount found in Castle fish may not exceed unhealthy levels like they do in the Crowsnest and Oldman.
Rotten bastards this test should be done monthly Surely this test can be done by the public and would probably be more effective