Mountains Not Mines

[PeterSL]

During his Zoom presentation on April 7, Jim McLennan talked of his concerns over coal mining in the eastern slopes. He recommended that we visit MountainsnotMines for background on the issue and that we express our opinions as individuals. 

The site identifies 3 main areas at risk from the potential mining activities:

Water -The negative impacts of probable water contamination will be felt by approximately 1.6 million Albertans; 1.4 million served by the North Saskatchewan watershed and over 200K served by the Oldman River headwaters.

Wildlife - this expansive area represents critical habitat for grizzlies, elk, caribou and the threatened Western cutthroat trout. Southwestern Alberta represents the last stronghold of this at-risk species. Habitat loss is considered the primary factor driving the extinction crisis.

Wellness - Open-pit coal mining exposes previously buried rock to air and water, creating conditions for toxic leaching of selenium which can cause neurological disorders in humans and liver disease or paralysis in other species.

 

TUC is actively engaged with the Government of Alberta on this issue but there's opportunity for us as individuals to be involved in the debate by completing the government survey before April 19th and/or following some of the suggestions on the MountainsnotMines site.