Speak up and say NO to coal mining on the Eastern Slopes
By Lethbridge Herald on January 24, 2025.
Dear Editor:
What are you going to drink when Grassy Mountain coal mine goes into production, and the Oldman River is contaminated with selenium from the coal mining process?
What will your home be worth when there is no, non-contaminated water to drink in our city and all along the downstream of the Oldman Watershed? Who will buy your house? Where will you go to start over?
Who will buy our crops and grasses from southern Alberta when they are being watered (if there is any water left) by water contaminated with selenium?
Who is going to buy our Alberta triple A beef if the beef are drinking water contaminated with selenium? The beef won’t be triple A anymore if in fact they survive.
What foods will the processing plants process when the crops are contaminated by selenium? They won’t be able to sell their products.
Selenium bioaccumulates, meaning it never goes away it just increases in concentration. During the coal mining process selenium is released into the water above ground and into ground water and the aquifer where it will remain.
What do you think the cost of living will be for you if our current water supply has to be replaced with bottled water and, multiply that by every town, village and city along the watershed and into the South Saskatchewan. This will be our reality if we don’t speak up, sign petition and say NO to coal mining on the Eastern Slopes of our beautiful province.
I love Lethbridge and I would like to continue drinking our water!
Our current provincial government has lifted the ban to allow this to happen. Perhaps they need to hear from you! By the way don’t believe them if they tell you selenium can be taken out of the water – it can’t.
Maria Fitzpatrick
Former MLA Lethbridge East
Here is their contact information:
Premier Danielle Smith –
780.588.7979
Brian Jean – minister.energy@gov.ab.ca
780.588.7979
403-320-1011
403-653-5070
Chelsae.Petrovic@assembly.ab.ca
587-424-2004
403-223-0002
30-29
Selenium occurs naturally and is a necessary element in small concentrations. What is the current level of selenium in our water, what are you proposing it may increase to, and how do you know that it cannot be safely mitigated?
Are you going to ignore the mess they have created in B.C.and the $60 million they have been fined for destroying their Rivers and Streams?. I had two women working for me in the 1980s whose husbands worked in the Elkford area Coal Industry and they left and came to Alberta they were so concerned by what the industry was doing to the people in that area.
My question stands:
What is the current level of selenium in our water, what are you proposing it may increase to, and how do you know that it cannot be safely mitigated?
There are many studies easily accessible online that will tell you that selenium above a very low threshold is toxic, that this threshold is easily reached as it bioaccumulates in animals and soil, and that there are no technologies that adequately removes selenium once liberated from mine waste.
You could begin, ironically, on the government’s own website: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset?q=selenium+coal&sort=score+desc
Everyone knows selenium occurs “naturally”, most folk understand the need to mitigate selenium contaminating water sources and most (but clearly not you) know that the mining industry has a history of unsuccessful containment. A report from a couple of years ago showed 6 times the perceived toxic level from a mine in northern Canada. Such a finding is not unusual. Fish are affected in several ways from organ failure, reproductive failure and deformities. It’s happened before , it’s happening now and will no doubt happen in the future, no matter what Brian Jean and his minions seem to think. And BTW, if fish are adversely affected, think how many other water born creatures are at risk – including us .
My questions stand:
What is the current level of selenium in our water, what are you proposing it may increase to, and how do you know that it cannot be safely mitigated?
not at all directing this at you, but just to query, does not ignorance occur naturally, and effort must be made to enlighten? that is to say, because something occurs naturally does not mean it is thus benign.
Raging granny stuff, all unsubstantiated and of courses threatening to just about every aspect of your life. Another CAVE. I like how her and spearman dress up their diatribes with “former”. As if that has any relevance except in the establishing of the SCS.
All mouth and no brains once again proving how stupid he is. Way to go.
Great letter from Maria Fitzpatrick Former MLA Lethbridge East
She cares about the future in Southern Alberta. The chief shareholder of the Australlian parent mining company that owns all the mining companies involved in this venture and ventures all around the world doesn’t care about “didley squat”.All she cares about is $$$.
Does bucklewheat care?
Neither does the UCP care while they deliberately destroy everything and the protection the true Conservatives under Peter Lougheed created for us. Yet we still have idiots like buckwheat who are dumb enough to support it, don’t we?
The fact that Coal Teck Limited was fined $60 million in B.C. should be enough for any Albertans to fight this stupidity but it hasn’t we still have these mindless seniors willing to support it, that’s how stupid they are. The same ones who show no concern for a $260 billion oil well cleanup mess and an $85 billion debt or what Global Warming is doing to the World and our children and grandchildren’s future that’s how stupid they are, isn’t it?
Nice emotional rant you have going there…What is global warming doing to the world? There are far fewer climate related deaths now than there were 100 years ago?
Our ability to gather facts to form an opinion are often biased, therefore I asked AI.
ChatGPT gave this answer to extensive coal mining:
“ Massive coal mining in the Rocky Mountains, particularly open-pit operations, could have severe consequences for Alberta’s water supply, as the region is the source of major rivers that provide drinking water, irrigation, and industrial use for millions of people.
Potential Effects on Alberta’s Water Supply
1. Water Contamination
• Open-pit coal mining exposes large amounts of rock to air and water, leading to the release of selenium, arsenic, and heavy metals into rivers and streams.
• Selenium contamination is already a major issue in mining areas, such as in British Columbia’s Elk Valley, where it has harmed fish populations and made water unsafe for consumption.
2. Reduced Water Availability
• Coal mining requires significant water use for processing and dust suppression, reducing river flow.
• The destruction of headwaters and wetlands can permanently lower water tables and affect aquifers, leading to chronic water shortages.
3. Sediment Pollution and Erosion
• Mining activities disturb large areas of land, increasing sediment runoff into rivers, which affects water clarity and aquatic ecosystems.
• This sediment buildup can reduce reservoir storage capacity, affecting Alberta’s ability to store and distribute water efficiently.
Predicted Water Situation in Alberta After 30 Years of Coal Mining
If large-scale coal mining continues unchecked for three decades, Alberta could face severe long-term water shortages and water quality degradation:
• Declining water security: Rivers such as the Oldman, Bow, and Red Deer could experience significant flow reductions, affecting cities like Calgary, Lethbridge, and Edmonton.
• Worsening droughts: Climate change combined with water overuse from mining could lead to prolonged drought periods, hitting farmers and ranchers the hardest.
• Unsafe drinking water: Higher concentrations of selenium and heavy metals could make water unsafe for human consumption, requiring costly treatment plants.
• Loss of aquatic life: Fish species like trout, already struggling due to warmer temperatures, could face population collapse due to pollution.
Conclusion
If coal mining expands in Alberta’s Rockies, the province risks facing an irreversible water crisis within 30 years, with widespread consequences for human health, agriculture, and the environment. To avoid this, stronger water protections and renewable alternatives must be prioritized over short-term economic gains from coal.
Brilliant, Charles!
I strongly encourage you to send your AI generated information to all of the government officials on the list provided by Maria Fitzpatrick.
Great comments, you nailed it.
The moral of the story is that you can trust AI more than you can trust Danielle and the UCP- a very low bar to jump over!.
Could, would, may…
My question stands: What is the current level of selenium in our water, what are you proposing it may increase to, and how do you know that it cannot be safely mitigated?