TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, FROM A CONCERNED CANADIAN, ALBERTAN, and CITIZEN:

I wish to register my opinion in the matter of the TENT MOUNTAIN MINE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT as proposed by Montem Resources Ltd.

I wish to request that this proposed project be subject to full evaluation by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, and that a full impact assessment of all aspects under the jurisdiction of a Joint Panel of provincial and federal expertise for the review of environmental impacts be undertaken. It is absolutely necessary that the project, as proposed, be examined, and further that full consideration be given within the larger context of a "small" project being viewed as a stepping stone to related and yet larger surface mining of coal on a grander, regional and province-wide basis. This is the proposition presented publicly to foreign investors, and has been openly advertised as such in, and to, other countries but which has not been widely presented to Canadians.

The land surface disturbance for haul road and rail link development, tailings, and coal processing are of concern, but the impact upon water resources, wildlife, air quality, and visual impacts upon a "Crown of the Continent" region, including the headwaters of the Crowsnest River and leading into the Oldman drainage basin, the South Saskatchewan River System, all will be impacted. Intentions must translate into and deal with the realities of such a corporate undertaking.

The southern Alberta economy will be impacted by proposed changes to water supply, water quality and quantity, due to the need for aspects such as selenium mitigation and treatment over a long term, due to possibility of effects upon agriculture, the recreation and tourism sector, and also transportation. Wildlife will bear the brunt of the effects of industrial-scale development.of coal resources. A dark-sky refugium, with no light or sound pollution, exists at present within our world-reknowned international peace park in the mountains to the southeast of this proposed development. First Nations and indigenous citizens have enjoyed thousands of years of peaceful use of the region and its resources. Interprovinical and international agreements already in place in terms of water resources need to be consulted. And, on the world stage, Canada's stated position concerning climate change and greenhouse gases requires that consideration be given to a project such as Tent Mountain in context. Should we be extracting coal, using precious and scarce water resources to wash it, then shipping Canadian-sourced coal to a foreign country overseas for it to be further processed and burned seems irresponsible, for the sake of a few hundred jobs and minimum royalities. Long-term, the promises of mitigation, offsets, and reclamation seem at odds with the goals of reducing carbon pollution now, and of maintaining Canada's water resources and protecting wilderness from encroachment by industrial-scale mining.

Canada has a mandate to protect species at risk. How will this be done, if no impact assessment and review is undertaken at the federal, and then federal-provincial level, and in the regional context? If each project is evaluated only upon its own individual aspects, if intentionality and correct use of regulatory vocabulary is valued more highly than consequential integrity when examining large-scale, mountain-reducing open-pit coal mining operation, there will be very many dissatisfied citizens with many more inquiries in the next and coming decades.

I look forward to your informed decisions on these matters.

Sincerely,

Connie L. Hall, (a former government employee, and processor of impact assessments at the provincial level for "linear surface disturbances" of the environment)