Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has said he will designate metallurgical coal mine exploration and development projects in south-west Alberta for a federal impact assessment.

This is to determine how these projects would affect federal jurisdictions, especially the impacts of selenium pollution on fish and fish habitat.  

The Canadian Press on Wednesday quoted Wilkinson as saying that projects with the potential to release selenium into waterbodies would be designated for a federal review and assessment.

“I think most Albertans would expect an issue like selenium and its impacts on watercourses and fish to be assessed.”

Selenium is common in coal-bearing rocks and is found throughout Alberta’s coal beds. In large volumes it can be toxic to fish and is difficult to manage once it gets into groundwater.

Coal Association of Canada CEO Robin Campbell responded that the industry “understood and acknowledged” concerns about selenium.

“The industry has, and will continue to adopt, a ‘multiple line of defense’ approach that is part of the mine design process. We are confident these approaches will satisfy both provincial and federal requirements,” he said.

The association would provide more detailed analysis and recommendations on selenium management via an expert report prepared by Guy Gilron and Gord McKenna. This report would be appended to its submission to Alberta’s Coal Policy Committee in the coming days.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and Ecojustice said Wilkinson took an important step in addressing the impact of coal in Canada, but said he failed to address concerns about the impact of the scale and pace of coal-mining activities of Aboriginal and Treaty rights, which directly impacted First Nations.

A regional assessment, the group argued, would have analysed the collective contribution of the Alberta mines to climate change, which it said would not be captured in individual project-by-project impact assessments.

“The environmental impacts of thermal and metallurgical coal mines are identical on the ground and they have similar downstream climate impacts. It is curious that the Minister deemed these impacts unacceptable in considering thermal coal mine developments last week, yet does not appear to make the same assertion for metallurgical coal mines, despite these significant impacts," said Ecojustice lawyer David Khan.

Wilkinson last week announced a new federal policy on thermal coal mining. Government now considers any new thermal coal mining projects, or expansions of existing thermal coal mines will likely cause “unacceptable environmental effects” and that position will inform federal decision-making on thermal coal projects.

Meanwhile, regarding thermal coal, Campbell said that the Coal Association Canada supported sustainable climate change goals, but that it was concerned that the policy did not reflect the progress that is being made on carbon capture, storage and use (CCSU) technology.

“We are already seeing positive results from CCSU technology in Canada and this can allow coal to remain an affordable part of the energy mix, while meeting climate goals.”

Campbell also pointed out that coal continues to power more than a third of global electricity generation, a situation that was unlikely to change in the next two decades.

“Canadian coal is extremely high quality and low sulphur relative to world standards. The loss of coal from Canada will likely be replaced by production from other countries that do not have the same commitment to our high standards,” he said.

Wilkinson last week informed thermal coal miner Coalspur Mines that the new policy would be applied to the consideration of its proposed thermal coal mine expansions at the Vista mine, in Alberta.