Concerns regarding the Telkwa Coal project were heard during a presentation hosted by environmental group What Happens In Our Valley with the former mayor of Fernie.
Randal Macnair participated in the event yesterday (Tuesday) and spoke about living in a coal mine community and the impacts it has had on the Elk Valley.
According to Macnair, the group invited him up to participate in this information session and talked about the good and the bad about living in a coalmine community.
He said not everything about having a coal mine in your backyard is bad.
“There are obviously many benefits, there’s jobs, there’s tax revenue but increasingly we’re seeing the downsides of coal mining both from an environmental perspective and from a human health perspective,” Macnair said.
He added in the Elk Valley the challenges it has come across is the water quality and dust.
Macnair also said the concerns he has heard from Bulkley Valley residents are multiple.
“Certainly the dust, the environmental impacts. It’s my understanding that there’s going to be an enormous tailings pond to contain the mine, so it doesn’t contain water sources and with something like that there’s always opportunities for these things to fail,” he said.
Macnair called the concerns very real and very valid.
He added that the topic of a coal mine is a complex issue.
In February, Telkwa Coal submitted its application for an Environmental Assessment Certificate, which is currently in the nine month review process.