“Don’t put your outhouse next to your spring,”

Selenium leaching has been linked to mass deaths of Westslope cutthroat trout and has sparked disputes with U.S. officials concerned about pollution flowing over the border into Montana and Idaho. Water in the Elk Valley has been tested to show it has levels of contamination at 50-70 percent higher than safety levels. As expected, people have raised concerns about the impact it will have on wildlife, air and water quality, as well as the landscape.

The People’s World is a voice for progressive change and socialism in the United States. Their article, “Mutated fish highlight the danger of selenium” is a real eye-opener. It talks about deformed fish in southern Idaho, where they have selenium leaking into the water from mining activities.

See this short video on polluting our waterways with coal

They say, “The metal causes significant damage to animal life; the deformity it causes to birds – missing eyes, twisted feet, and protruding brains – is significantly worse than what has been done to the trout. But it’s dangerous to humans as well; it can cause hair and fingernail loss, and numbness in fingers and toes.”

Much of southern Alberta depends on the Oldman Watershed. It supplies 90 percent of the drinking water for Lethbridge and the surrounding area. If this is poisoned, the the Oldman Watershed Council said they’re out of options.

“Southern Alberta does not have alternative rivers or lakes to draw water from,” the council said in its submission to the hearing. “The Oldman River is the only option for us and so we are particularly vulnerable to upstream contamination.”

Photo by Christianabend CC-BY-SA-2.0 and GFDL Canada Boat House am Maligne Lake, Jasper NP, Alberta

Cam Gardner, councillor for the Municipal District of Ranchland, told the CBC said those who work in the hills learned long ago that you don’t “put your outhouse next to your spring,” and says he hopes Albertans haven’t forgotten that lesson.

“I would just ask Albertans whether in a closed water basin in a drought-prone region, this

is what they want their water to be used for — is to wash coal to send to China,” he said.

One of the biggest selenium contamination issues in the world is taking place in the Elk River’s tributaries to waters downstream that cross into the United States. Tech Resources has a number of metallurgical coal mines operating just inside the border of British Columbia in roughly the same area as the Grassy Mountain mine will be. The issues they face with international lawsuits and million-dollar fines will be echoed by Alberta’s Coal mine. See the environmental hazard assessment of Benga Mining’s proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Project.

If this toxic mixture of selenium and heavy metals can travel into the United States, it’s easy to see how quickly it will reach Lethbridge and Calgary. There is a lot of development and work towards finding a solution to deal with this contamination, but putting hope and optimism aside, nothing has worked.

The Oldman River flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins Bow River to form the South Saskatchewan River, which eventually drains into the Hudson Bay. There are a lot of cities and towns that depend on it.

Several coal mining projects are lining up to use up Alberta’s resources. These include Riversdale/Benga’s Grassy Mountain Project, Montem’s Tent Mountain Mine, Atrum’s Elan, Isolation Mines, and the Cabin Ridge Coal Project Ltd. These mines all need water for coal production. It was determined years ago there is a limited supply. It isn’t endless as some might believe. Still, the government has put two-thousand hectares of land on the eastern slopes up for bidding, and will change rules and regulations to make sure these new mines get the water they need to operate. They will eliminate current categories of water allocations to open up the Old Man, making almost double the amount available.

This might heat up into quite a competition. The Elan hard-coking coal project determine there was more coal there than initial testing. Perhaps enough to extend the mine for another 6 years. It’s doubtful the extra availability of water has been considered. They found a way to reduce costs and increase their returns by 25-28 percent.

Montem Resources has finished their exploratory drilling and hit black gold. All their drilling tests show thick coal seams and it’s close to the surface for easier and less expensive costs. These are all very encouraging signs for the drillers. They’ll make a fortune.

This may result in a lot of water shortages. What little is left, will be poisoned. Gardner’s comment that you “don’t put your outhouse next to your spring,” is exactly what the Alberta government will do. How smart is that?

Related articles

• Proposed coal mine will ‘decapitate’ Grassy Mountain in southern Alberta
• Historic Alberta coal community wrestles with plans for new mining
• Grassy Mountain Coal Project Public Hearings to begin on October 27, 2020
• Saying no to a coal comeback: The Vista coal mine
• Selenium’s coal mining impact on the environment
• Mountaintop coal mine hearings to begin amidst fears of pollution, development rush

Related Discussion Group Posts

• Selenium’s coal mining impact on the environment
• Three posts: Does Alberta Need More Coal Mines?
• [Video] Coal Valley — The story of B.C.’s quiet water contamination crisis.
• Short video on poisoned water from coal mining on the eastern slopes
• China just stunned the world with its step-up on climate action – and the implications for Australia may be huge