Alberta coal mine moves ahead without permits federal officials say are needed
CBC
Environmental groups are asking Ottawa to enforce its rules on an Alberta coal site that has started building an underground test mine without fisheries permits that officials have said are required.
"They can't just sit back and wait for habitat destruction to occur," said Ecojustice lawyer Dan Cheater.
"We'd like to see them take action."
Coalspur Mines is planning a large expansion of its Vista thermal coal mine near Hinton, Alta., which would make it the largest thermal coal mine in North America. The company is also planning an underground test mine on the site to determine the feasibility of subsurface mining.
In 2020, then-federal environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson ordered a joint federal-provincial review of both the expansion and the test mine. That review collapsed last fall when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Ottawa's Impact Assessment Act was unconstitutional.
But by then the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had reviewed plans for both projects and decided it required permits under two different pieces of legislation.
"DFO indicated that the physical activities would require a Fisheries Act authorization," says the 2021 analysis report from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.
"The physical activities may also potentially require the exercise of powers ... such as a Species at Risk Act permit for impacts to Athabasca rainbow trout or other species at risk."
The department has been in contact with Coalspur but has not begun an investigation, said Fisheries spokesperson Robert Rombouts.
"The company is obliged to comply with the acts and failure to comply may lead to enforcement action," he said in an email.
Meanwhile, work on the underground mine has begun.
"The company started construction work, but it's limited to the underground portion of the mine," said an email from Renato Gandia, spokesperson for the Alberta Energy Regulator.
"Coalspur has not commenced mining activities at Vista Test Underground Mine. As of Dec. 31, 2023, no coal has been mined at the underground mine and the portal has not been constructed."
The company has received all necessary provincial permits for the test mine. Coalspur has argued that because the test mine doesn't expand the mine's overall footprint, no additional permits are required.
There's stiff competition among prospective home buyers in the St. John's region because the number of listings are unusually low and demand is surging.
Strong attendance and record sponsorship at the Northern Ontario Tourism Summit in North Bay is a good sign the industry is recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Destination Northern Ontario.
A group of Halifax residents is asking the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to look at a provincial decision to greenlight a controversial Fall River development.
Parkside Drive is closed in both directions following reports of a sinkhole, Toronto police say.
The Quebec government will present its fall economic update today.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.