From Susan C. Walsh to the Joint Review Panel re: Comments on the Grassy Mountain Coal Project

Dear Members of the Impact Assessment Committee,

I am writing to express my deep concern about the coal mining activity that is proposed in Alberta. In particular, I am writing about the Grassy Mountain open pit coal mine, close to Blairmore, Alberta. I understand that a federal review/assessment of the Grassy Mountain coal mine is underway.

It is clear that the proposed coal mine will affect a very large area of our province (28 square kilometres of land and water). One major impact of the proposed coal mine is the very real threat to water security.

• toxic levels of chemicals in rivers affecting health and habitat of fish (ex. Westslope Cutthroat trout, Bull trout) and other animals, plants, and trees (ex. limber pine, Whitejack pine)
• toxicity in the drinking water supply
• decrease in water supply
• impact on headwaters of riverways (ex. Gold Creek and Crowsnest River)

I appeal to the Impact Assessment Committee to seriously consider the input of scientists and environmental professionals who are not connected to the corporate sector. We, in Alberta, need clear, reliable, scientific, third party assessments of proposals such as Grassy Mountain, given that our provincial UCP has dissolved environmental protections that have been in place in our province for decades, including those related to coal mines. Such environmental protections were put in place by previous Alberta provincial governments to prevent exactly the kinds of dangers that will ensue from developments such as the Grassy Mountain project.

I trust that your committee will help uphold Canada’s commitments to join the global community in working together to protect the environment and to mitigate the effects of environmental damage that has already occurred. Please help us in Alberta to take steps forward—not backward—in this regard.

As an Albertan, and as a Canadian, I urge you to shut down the Grassy Mountain coal mine project—and to protect the environment in Alberta and Canada. If this project moves forward, others are sure to follow.

Please put the health and well-being of Canadians, current and future—and the land and water of our country—at the forefront of your considerations.

Sincerely,

Susan C. Walsh, Ph.D.