Bill Trafford is president of the Livingstone Landowners’ Group., which represents landowners and supporters of the Livingstone-Porcupine area in southwest Alberta.
In his piece in the Calgary Herald on Aug. 26, Robin Campbell, president of the Coal Association of Canada, asks that the true facts about coal mining become known. Unfortunately, in his article, Mr. Campbell ignores multiple inconvenient truths.
He writes as if the Vista decision was the only coal mine that Ottawa decided to review. More accurately, there will now be reviews of two proposed mines, one in Alberta and one in B.C.
Both are in mountainous terrain that is very difficult if not impossible to reclaim. Both proponents had adjusted the project size so that they were just under the levels where a federal review would have been automatic.
In the case of Vista, the revised project size was barely one per cent below the threshold.
For the rest of this column: https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-coal-mining-in-alberta-must-be-carefully-assessed-before-allowing-expansion