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Tom Monto

Coal could be only start of East Slope development

Updated: Mar 19, 2021

A friend of mine voiced his concern that coal mining could be just start of the development that Alberta Premier Kenney would impose on the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies.


He feared oil and gas, forestry, even the sale of mountainsides for private ski or other developments.


Kenney said "mea culpa" according to media but did not return Alberta to the banned-mining policy put in place by Lougheed 40 years ago and he promises to have public input before any further mining.


My friend pointed out how futile public consultation has been in the past to shift the Alberta Conservative government.


Did it stop the Japanese-owned Al-Pac pulp mill at Athabasca? In one word, NO.

(I have a copy of a poster that shows a photo of cabinet minister Ralph Klein giving the finger to environmentally-concerned citizens at the Al-Pac hearings.)


And in many other cases, too, the government pressed on despite public opposition.


Is it likely to shift the government now? Let's say I am skeptical.


What is at stake?


The water that runs along the Saskatchewan River, the Bow River, the Red Deer River, that waters parts of three provinces - the bread basket of the country.


This water also supplies drinking water to large cities across the Prairies - Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, etc.


A lack of water or pollution of this water caused by Eastern Slope development will cost these cities downstream, a cost that will not be paid by the businesses doing the development, but instead by taxpayers in the cities. So this development is a way to get profit for private companies at the expense of taxpayers.


With Edmonton's "accidental beach," people have begun to enjoy the river more recently. The city investigated water quality and found that when it arrived at Edmonton's west edge it was actually pretty clean. This drove the city to address the long-standing policy of allowing untreated sewage to flow into the river. And the City applauded itself when it brought its sewage outflow down to a level not seen since 1912. But if water flowing into the city is already polluted in the mountain slopes, the quality of life of all of us will decline.


As well, the Eastern Slopes supplies water that runs along the Athabasca River, a source of the Mackenzie River that flows through the NWT. Any pollution could cause sickness, cancer or additional expense to communities along the Mackenzie River and in the Far North as well.


And as well development and deforestation of he eastern slopes will almost certainly lead to more frequent and disastrous flooding of the great Prairie rivers. The great Calgary flood is linked to deforestation upriver. Could disastrous once-in-a-century floods with a forested eastern slope become as frequent as once in a decade when the eastern slopes become deforested?


Perhaps "Tory torrents" or "Kenny currents" will be a common thing in the future.


All this would be a possibility in Kenney's scheme, which seems aimed at providing massive profit to multi-national corporations, such as Australia-owned Riversdale Resources,


While Alberta residents and taxpayers will pay the cost to address harm to our waters, suffer decline in our health, and likely end up paying to clean up the mess when the corporations eventually pull out, such as happened with our abandoned oil wells.


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