Open-pit conflict

In a Rocky Mountain town in southwest Alberta, a bitter battle is brewing. With a history of coal mining stretching more than a century, the community is debating whether to stay true to its roots and support the return of coal — or leave the mining industry in the past.

For nearly a decade, the idea of a return to coal has been stirring in the collection of neighbouring towns. Now, the Crowsnest Pass is at a crossroads and must decide its future.

Tensions are rising and the divide is growing in the Crowsnest Pass before a plebiscite vote next month, with arguments centred around the community’s economic future and environmental impacts of open-pit mines.

Reviving the mining sector could be the solution to the region’s economic sluggishness, while others decry a coming environmental disaster.

The situation reflects the country’s uneasy relationship with natural resource extraction from forestry and mining to oil and pipelines.
 

The Crowsnest is made up of five nearby towns which sit in a row along Highway 3 in a narrow valley, with rolling Prairie landscapes to the east and mountains to the west near the border with British Columbia. At this time of year, the towns are surrounded by green slopes punctuated by the autumn colours of October.

In storefronts and house windows, signs proudly proclaim, “We are a coal town.” It’s an ode to the past and a cry for the future.

Northback Holdings Corporation is reviving its proposed Grassy Mountain coal mine, which was rejected three years ago. The company is revising its plan, including whether to scale back the potential size of the open pit mine, which would produce steelmaking coal. 

There have been other proposed coal mines in Alberta in the last decade, but the Grassy Mountain plan has garnered the most attention as one of the first in a recent wave of new projects. It also advanced among the furthest in the regulatory process.

It’s a contentious, emotional issue, as the resurrection of coal mining could have a profound impact on the future of the community for decades to come. For someone who doesn’t live in the area, it may seem jarring to hear some residents describe how potentially devastating mining activity would be for the Crowsnest, while others speak about how much of a blessing it would be.

For supporters, it’s a saving grace. For opponents, it’s a death sentence.

Retired realtor John Redekopp is opposed to mining and he’s OK with being called a NIMBY (not in my backyard).

People move to the Crowsnest Pass because it’s a mountain paradise, he said — full of outdoor adventures, from flyfishing and backcountry skiing to mountain biking and hunting.

“It’s not a Canmore or Banff. It’s still authentic here,” said Redekopp. “This is a beautiful place, and I love my community, and I’m here to fight for what I think can be a better place.”

Opening up a coal mine would ruin the tourism industry, he said, and some residents will pack up and leave.

“In real estate, the No. 1 thing is location, location, location. People don't buy retirement homes, recreation property, those kinds of things — in coal mine towns. That just doesn't happen,” Redekopp said.  

While property values are up, there are signs pointing toward a stagnant economy and limited growth. The population of the Crowsnest has increased by nearly six per cent since 2017, with about one-third of residents over the age of 65. The number of high school students has increased slightly in recent years, but remains at half of what it was 20 years ago.

The economic demise of the region is a scarecrow, said Redekopp, pointing to the number of new construction in the municipality and how property values have jumped by more than 40 per cent over the last five years.

While there are no active mines in the Crowsnest, there are reminders of the community’s past just about everywhere, in artwork along main streets and in historical landmarks, such as the scattered boulders of the Frank Slide, the fatal mining town landslide of 1903.

About 600 residents drive across the border each day to work at the handful of coal mines in southeast B.C.

From the living room of the bed and breakfast he owns, Ken Easton has just said goodbye to a young couple who came to get married in the region, attracted by its beauty. As he prepares for another group to arrive in a few hours, he remembers back when he was a kid and the mining sector was a dominant industry. Instead of empty storefronts that are now visible, he recalls how busy all the hardware, clothing and grocery stores used to be.

“Now, we have basically nothing. So when they shut down the mines in the mid-’70s, people started to dissipate from here and business just went away,” said Easton.

A return to mining, like the Grassy Mountain project, would provide an injection of jobs, investment and tax revenue, he said, while bringing an energy back to the community.

“I would like to see it go ahead, and the sooner, the better. This community needs employment,” said Easton.

Alberta rescinded its 45-year-old coal policy in the summer of 2020, sparking backlash from the public, municipal officials, Indigenous leaders and environmental groups — as well as Corb Lund, a country music star — all of them concerned about the risk of opening up protected lands to a resurgence of mining development.

That policy was reinstated the following year with amendments.

Grassy Mountain has become the epicentre of the scrutiny and debate about the future of coal mining in Alberta. The outside attention has heightened tensions within the community.

Social media and online misinformation have pushed residents further apart.

“This is a very political thing,” said David Thomas, who has helped organize a group called Crowsnest Headwaters, which opposes mining in the area because of the impact to the Crowsnest River.

There’s also the issue of selenium, a natural element found in the environment and often released by coal mining that is toxic in excess, can lower reproductive success and has been linked to mass deaths of westslope cutthroat trout.

Selenium is at the centre of a long-running dispute between the United States and Canada because of the pollution from coal mines in British Columbia flowing into American waters.

In 2021, the joint committee that reviewed the Grassy Mountain proposal had concerns about the proposed measures the company would not achieve the necessary level of selenium capture.

Thomas is counting down the days until the plebiscite.

“I think it's a good thing for us because I think we're going to win it. I think there are a lot of people who are quietly opposed to this,” he said.

Northback is now making a push to convince skeptics and alleviate worries about its proposed mine by hosting guided tours of the site. Formerly Benga Mining, the company is a subsidiary of Australian mining giant Hancock Prospecting.

Two-thirds of the way up a gravel road that sometimes climbs steeply up the mountain, Northback spokesperson Rina Blacklaws stops her truck at a spot called the “Big Show,” featuring breathtaking views.

What the company wants is right at her feet.

Grassy Mountain is itself an old coal mine that has sat dormant and unreclaimed for about 60 years. The area is still littered with remnants of the past mine with old tires, abandoned cables and coal chutes sticking out of the ground.

If Northback can open up its mine, it vows to properly clean up the mountain and restore it to its original state with native plants.

Officials have heard concerns about water and how much dust will be created.

“Here in Alberta, we have this valuable resource and we believe that we can extract it responsibly and safely,” said Blacklaws, the Northback spokesperson, who describes the proposed project as more modern compared to mines in the past and different than the original Grassy Mountain proposal pitch several years ago.

“We’re looking at a completely new application now. So that includes assessing everything, including the size of the project, including minimizing environmental disruptions and impacts,” she said.

Like many of Canada’s natural resources, metallurgical coal is in high demand globally to make steel and other products.

Northback has 21 full-time staff and already invested hundreds of millions of dollars trying to develop the project.

The company needed the land housing the municipal golf course for its project, so it offered a trade and invested about $27 million in the new golf course.

The Nov. 25 vote will not be binding and will not have an influence on regulatory or legal challenges.

“It is hard for people to make up their mind, which is why we’re trying to be as open and transparent as possible,” said Blacklaws.

With the plebiscite only one month away, Carmen and Troy Linderman are working hard to ensure the vote is in favour of resurrecting the mining industry.

For several years the couple have galvanized support through a Facebook group, website and public events. At the local farmer’s market, there’s usually always an “I heart CNP Coal” table.

“People are a lot more passionate about it now. I feel there's been a divide, especially southern Alberta against the Crowsnest Pass, which really is unfortunate,” said Carmen. Many municipalities have weighed in on the issue since water from the Crowsnest, and potential pollution, would flow east through the rest of the province.

Some families are already leaving, said Troy, and currently, the community is not sustainable.

“The fear is that our community is shrinking and dying,” he said.

“For 50 years we've been talking about tourism coming in and doing things and we've had pockets of that and we've had some success. There's no doubt. But it doesn't bring the investment, the mortgage paying jobs. They're just not happening,” he said.

Residents deplore the fact the community has become like society at large: polarized.

The plebiscite would give the local council a clear direction about how residents feel and put the issue to bed. Then, the community could begin to heal its divisions.

However, if the results are split, the vote could only exacerbate the existing rift for many more years to come.