Timeline — Coal in Alberta
COAL IN ALBERTA
—A TIMELINE—
On June 1, 2020, the Government of Alberta rescinded the 1976 Coal Policy — opening up 1.5 million hectares of sensitive lands in Alberta’s headwaters area for potential coal exploration and development. Albertans fought hard against this, and continue to fight for a new land management policy that will protect the Eastern Slopes from coal development. Read on to learn more about how it all started, and where we find ourselves now.
1976
The Government of Alberta publishes “A Coal Development Policy for Alberta” —commonly known as the 1976 Coal Policy. This policy implements a four-category land management system that forbids or restricts coal development at varying levels throughout the Eastern Slopes.
1976-2012
The Coal Policy significantly reduces coal exploration and development in Alberta’s foothill and Rocky Mountains.
2012-2013
Exploration on sensitive Category 2 lands is approved for Ram River. More holes are drilled in 2013 on these lands than in the previous three decades combined.
2016
Benga Mining Ltd.’s first Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its Grassy Mountain Coal Project is rejected due to “major deficiencies” in the company’s conservation and reclamation plan, biodiversity impact assessment, and much more. The proposed coal project would remove the top of Grassy Mountain (Crowsnest Pass, Alberta) and operate for 24 years (2021 to 2045).
2016
The Alberta Government grants the Ram River Coal Aries Project’s 20,000 hectare open-pit mine an exemption to the Coal Policy.
2018
Exploration on Category 4 lands is approved for Montem’s Tent Mountain Mine.
2019
Australian coal companies and the Coal Association of Canada lobby the Government of Alberta to allow more open pit mining in sensitive areas of the Eastern Slopes. Investor reports suggest the government is likely to change policy to allow this.
2019
Exploration on sensitive Category 2 lands is approved for Australian-based Atrum Coal.
May 15, 2020
Alberta Minister of Energy Sonya Savage announces that the Government of Alberta will be rescinding the 1976 Coal Policy, with no public consultation, effective June 1st.
June 1 , 2020
The 1976 Coal Policy is officially terminated, opening up 1.5 million hectares of sensitive lands in Alberta’s headwaters area for potential coal exploration and development. No new land-use management plan is put in its place.
June, 2020
Exploration on Category 2 lands is approved for Australian-based Montem Resources
July 15 - September 15, 2020
Applications are approved and leases are granted for 240,000 hectares of sensitive, former Category 2 lands on the Eastern Slopes.
October, 2020
Exploration on Category 2 lands is approved for Cabin Ridge
October 27 - December 2, 2020
Australia-based Benga Mining Ltd.’s proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Project undergoes a hearing on their Environmental Impact Assessment by a Joint Review Panel. The hearing process is a key part of the government process to make a decision on whether the mine will be approved or not. The proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Project would remove the top of Grassy Mountain (Crowsnest Pass, Alberta), span 2,800 hectares, and operate for 24 years (2021 to 2045).
December, 2020
New leases are issued adjacent to the popular recreation destinations of Goldeye Lake, Fish Lake, and Crescent Falls. Eleven new leases are sold to Montem Resources and Benga Mining Ltd.
January 12, 2021
Country music star Corb Lund speaks out about coal mining on the Eastern Slopes: “I’m writing this to tell you that I 100% oppose these policy changes...If you drink Alberta’s water, you should care about this. And if you ranch, irrigate crops, hunt, fish, skidoo, camp in the backcountry, spend time on horseback in the foothills, etc. you should care about this. Hell, even if you sit in an office building in Calgary and like to look west on a clear day you should care about this.
January 18, 2021
The Government of Alberta pauses sales in former Category 2 lands and cancels the 11 recent coal leases from the December 2020 auction – however, these leases account for only 0.2% of the area that has already been leased.
February 8, 2021
The 1976 Coal policy is reinstated, but all leases issued since June 1, 2020, remain in place (other than the 11 cancelled in January). Category 3 and 4 lands of the Eastern Slopes remain open for coal exploration and development.
March 2, 2021
Kainai and Siksika nations call for a federal impact assessment on Montem Resources’ Tent Mountain Coal Mine Project arguing that the Australian-based company is unfairly attempting to dodge a federal impact assessment by staying a sliver (75 tonnes) under the 5,000 tonnes per day production capacity that normally triggers the assessment. Nine additional letters of support are submitted in the following weeks, including a letter co-authored by Ecojustice, CPAWS Southern Alberta Chapter, Niitsítapi Water Protectors, and Livingstone Landowners Group.
March 3, 2021
CPAWS and others call for a complete halt to ALL coal exploration in the region until Albertan’s decide the future of these landscapes. CPAWS creates a letter-writing tool to help others demand a complete stop as well.
February 11 - March 13, 2021
Latasha Calf Robe and the Niitsítapi Water Protectors gather 18,333 signatures on their federal petition to halt a decision on the Grassy Mountain Coal Project until a thorough Regional Assessment is done that looks at the cumulative impacts on all coal activity in the Southwest Eastern Slopes. The petition is read in the House of Commons on March 22, 2021.
March 26, 2021
Teck Coal Ltd. Fined $60 million for extensive water contamination in B.C.’s Elk Valley. This is the largest penalty ever issued for Fisheries Act offences.
March 26, 2021
CPAWS Survey reveals that 76% of Albertans are in favour of more protections for nature and recreation in the Eastern Slopes.
March 27, 2021
Hundreds gatherin Calgary to protest open-pit mining on the Eastern Slopes at a rally hosted by the Niitsitapi Water Protectors.
March 29 - April 12, 2021
The Government of Alberta launches an online survey for public engagement on the next steps of coal development. The survey reveals that 90% of the nearly 25k respondents feel there are areas that are NOT appropriate for coal exploration and development.
April 23, 2021
The Government of Alberta temporarily halts exploration in Category 2 lands, but exploration in Category 3 and Category 4 lands of the Eastern Slopes can continue at full speed.
May 28, 2021
CPAWS Southern Alberta, Niitsitapi Water Protectors, and Livingstone Landowners Group, represented by Ecojustice, formally ask the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) to recommend to the Minister of Environment that he order a regional assessment addressing the cumulative impacts of metallurgical coal mining in the region on the following areas under federal jurisdiction: fish and fish habitat, species at risk, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, Treaty and Aboriginal rights, and transboundary impacts.
June 16, 2021
Federal Minister of Environment states that he will not order a Regional Assessment of the cumulative impacts of metallurgic coal in Alberta but intends to designate all new metallurgical coal mines for a federal impact assessment.
June 22, 2021
Federal Minister Jonathan Wilkinson designates Montem's Tent Mountain for a federal impact assessment.
September 1, 2021
CPAWS Northern and Southern Alberta chapters along with Yellowstone to Yukon develop a submission to the Coal Policy Committee for a new vision and plan for Alberta’s Eastern Slopes outlining that above all else, conservation and community values must be protected, and this needs to be reflected in the development of a new coal policy.
October 6, 2021
Albertans learn that despite promises from the Alberta Government to pause coal development activity, 2000 hectares of coal lease applications were transferred in SW Alberta over summer 2021.
EXPECTED: December 31, 2021
Deadline for the Coal Policy Committee to submit their recommendations to the government.
If you appreciate our contribution to the fight for a coal-free Rockies, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to CPAWS. Your gift goes a long way in helping us protect Alberta’s wilderness.