Dear editor,
It was with surprise and dismay that I returned from my Christmas break to see a newspaper report regarding the visit of Mr. Abbott, a Liberal leadership hopeful.
Surprise because he was reported as supporting the Raven Coal Mine “providing it passes the environmental process.”
The environmental process he refers to is certainly not the most robust assessment available. The robust review is an “independent panel of experts with hearings.”
As MLA Don McRae is aware, CoalWatch has consistently been asking for two critical measures to be taken:
1. A complete mapping and modelling of the aquifers potentially affected by the Raven tenure prior to any mine site development;
2. The establishment of the most robust environmental assessment available.
We have made these requests to MLA McRae personally and have repeatedly made them to the B.C. government without adequate response. Hence our dismay!
First, we are dismayed that such comments obviously favourable to the proponent can be made in the absence of any reference to the pre-feasibility study completed by the consultants for the Raven Joint Venture.
This study showed, among other things, the following:
1. The quantity of coal available is sharply down from that initially announced.
2. The quality of the coal must be mixed with a higher quality of metallurgical coal for it to be used in steel-making.
CoalWatch has had this report reviewed by two highly qualified experts and made their conclusions public. Mr. McRae was also given copies of these comments.
They clearly showed that the quality of the coal was indeed such that while it could be classified as “metallurgical,” it would not produce one ounce of coking coal without the addition of the higher quality coal.
A second conclusion was that doubt was cast on the economic viability of this mine. If that is correct, then one has to wonder what the longer-range motivation is in pursuing this proposed development.
Could it be that the Bear deposit situated in the Trent River watershed is a future target?
May the Anderson Lake deposit also be factored into future plans, even though no applications for either have yet been made?
The implications, both actual and potential, are so far-reaching in their impact on the entire Comox and Alberni valleys that to deny the most robust and complete environmental assessment is grossly irresponsible.
Don, the citizens of the Comox Valley need to know where you stand, and that you will at the very least publicly and politically defend their interests.
Up to now, your silence has been deafening.
Campbell Connor,
Fanny Bay
Editor’s note: Campbell Connor is vice-president of the CoalWatch Comox Valley Society.