The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has approved an exploratory coal drilling permit on Grassy Mountain for Northback Holdings. The AER says it “considered all the evidence carefully” in reaching its decision.
Northback is owned by Australian mining giant Hancock Prospecting, run by Gina Rinehart, Australia’s wealthiest billionaire.
Northback applied for the permits in the summer of 2023. The AER agreed to review the application as an advanced coal project, a ruling that was met with criticism from legal experts and people concerned about water quality in southern Alberta.
Smith Speaks Against Strip Mining
Premier Danielle Smith, speaking last weekend on her radio show Your Province, Your Premier, told Albertans that her government will not approve open-pit mining at Grassy Mountain.
“You can’t do these things,” she said. “You can’t do open pit mining and you can’t do strip mining — but if you can find techniques that allow you to do new underground mining, then we’re going to be open to approving those projects.”
Smith said the UCP has put a “policy into place” to prevent these types of surface mining and that AER’s recent permit approval is only to allow Northback to get more information about Grassy Mountain’s coal deposit.
Premier Playing Word Games
Katie Morrison, a biologist and executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s (CPAWS) southern Alberta chapter, said the 1976 Coal Policy currently in place prohibits certain types of mining in some areas but “does not restrict open-pit mining where Grassy Mountain is located.”
“So currently there is no policy in place that backs the premier’s statement. This government is playing word games with the coal mining definitions,” Morrison told TheRockies.Life.
The government is in the process of consulting industry to create a new coal policy, known as the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative.
Morrison said the government is developing the policy behind closed doors and there are a lot of gaps to be filled.
“We have not seen anything concrete, and certainly not legally binding, that would give clarity on what types of mining would or would not be allowed,” she said. “It is wholly inappropriate for these projects to be moving forward in the absence of this new policy.”
Morrison also questioned the recent AER decision to permit more deep drilling, exploration and damage to the landscape when Northback already has data about the coal reserve from previous attempts to open a mine.
Not in Public’s Interest
Hancock Prospecting, under another subsidiary Benga Mining, twice had its plans for open pit coal mining in the same Oldman River headwater region rejected.
In June 2021, a Joint Review Panel of the AER and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency denied the company’s application. The panel concluded that the project’s environmental impacts on water and wildlife, particularly the westslope cutthroat trout, would outweigh economic benefits and that it was not in the public interest.
Benga then applied for a judicial review of the decision, which was quickly dismissed by the courts.
As TheRockies.Life reported, the Alberta government’s own scientists have documented decades of ecological damage from closed coal mines in the Crowsnest Pass and Oldman River headwaters.
Despite this research and widespread public concern about water conservation, the AER has brought this controversial project back from the dead.
The decision announced last Thursday gives Northback the go-ahead for an exploratory drilling program, deep drilling permit and a temporary diversion license.
The AER said the approval is only for exploration and “does not constitute approval of a coal mine.”
Not Surprised, Very Disappointed
Laura Laing, of Plateau Cattle Company near Nanton, said this renewed attempt to mine at Grassy Mountain should never have seen the light of day, calling the AER’s approval “completely inconsistent with the Joint Review Panel’s 2021 decision.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised by the AER decision. [Premier] Smith’s comments don’t seem to align with Minister of Energy, Brian Jean’s. This issue continues to be a chaotic government fumble at every step,” Laing said in an interview with TheRockies.Life.
At a December 2024 media conference about the work-in-progress modern coal policy, Minister Jean said that as an “advanced” coal project Grassy Mountain would be exempt from open-pit mining restrictions.
Forever Chemicals
Many groups welcomed Premier Smith’s off-the-cuff announcement banning strip mining at Grassy Mountain.
Paul Spearman, former Lethbridge mayor and spokesperson for the group Water For Food, is one of them. But he still has a lot of questions.
“Water For Food welcomes your clear commitment stated on your official radio show this past weekend that Northback will not be permitted to undertake open-pit, strip or mountain-top removal mining at Grassy Mountain,”: Spearman wrote in an open letter to the Premier.
His letter also came with a list of questions. Topping the list is a need for the Premier to clarify the contradiction between her comments and Minister Jeans’ December declaration that any rules against open-pit mining wouldn’t apply to Northback at Grassy Mountain.
He pointed to provincial government studies documenting historic selenium contamination and the threat of more toxic selenium in the Oldman River watershed from any future coal mining.
‘There is no known technology available to remove enough selenium from the water. The only way to prevent a catastrophe is to prevent coal mining at the outset, not by monitoring after the damage has already been done, Spearman wrote.
He also questioned the AER’s approval, regulation and monitoring effectiveness given that it is industry-funded.
Who Drives the AER?
In March, the AER’s independence as a regulatory agency was called into question when it was revealed that AER board member and fossil fuel industry insider David Yager is also being paid as a special advisor to the Premier and Executive Council.
Yager has been advising the provincial government on how to deal with a toxic abandoned oil and gas well clean-up problem, which includes a proposal that could leave Albertans on the hook for billions of dollars.
At an April 14 public meeting in High River, the community’s mayor Craig Snodgrass countered Northback CEO Mike Young’s claim that the company’s Grassy Mountain application was being rigorously reviewed.“Not only is David Yager on the AER board, he is on the payroll as a special adviser to the premier. Don’t tell me he’s at arm’s length from the Alberta government,” Snodgrass said.
