Wednesday » December 2 » 2009

Fanny Bay Hall jammed with residents anxious to discuss proposed coal mine operation

Marcel Tetrault
Comox Valley Echo


Tuesday, December 01, 2009


So many people are interested in the coalmine proposed for Fanny Bay that residents had to be turned away from a meeting last week due to fire regulations.

The Comox Valley Coal Watch Coalition coalesced at that meeting, as close to 200 people packed the Fanny Bay Community Hall to learn about the project and ask questions about its impact.

"We were extraordinarily pleased with the turnout," said Delores Broten, a member of the coal watch coalition's media committee.

"That turnout shows the level of concern there is in the community. To turn people away is an organizer's dream."

The Compliance Energy coal mine proposed for Fanny Bay, currently in the environmental assessment process, would extract about two million tonnes of coal per year for the next 20 years.

The purpose of the coalition, said media committee member Delores Broten, is to figure out which questions should be asked during the environmental assessment process, advocate for clear and timely responses to those questions and to inform the public of the answers.

"We don't know enough," said Broten. "You have to ask the questions in exactly the right way, and it is unfortunately up to us to ask them. It is totally terrifying, because we're just citizens. We're not the right people to be doing this, but there isn't anyone else.

"You've got to put it on the agenda, that's the issue. And it's up to us to put it on the agenda, because we don't know if anyone else would put it on."

Those who attended the Thursday evening meeting raised a host of concerns and questions.

They ranged from the impact of coal extraction on surface water and underground aquifers to its impact on property values and the tourism and shellfish industries.

They also asked about coal dust being blown from waste piles and stockpiles as well as from the 70 to 100 trucks that would be required to transport the coal to port every day.

Compliance had considered using trains for transport to port, but a letter from company CEO John Tapics to the environmental assessment office rules that option out.

Coal would instead by transported by truck via the Inland Island Highway to transport ships at either Port Alberni, Middle Point in Campbell River or Duke Point in Nanaimo.

Another concern was the sulphur content of the coal. Broten said that, due to pollution laws, coal cannot be sold that is more than 1.5 per cent sulphur. Sulphur is a cause of acid rain.

Bill Hamilton, now 84 years old, was employed decades ago at the former Tsable River mine site in Union Bay that worked the same coalfield Compliance is considering.

Hamilton said he was told in 1958 that the mine was closing because the coal couldn't be sold due to its high sulphur content.

"There's lots of coal," said Hamilton. "They had six-foot seams in that mine.

"We had ships from China and Japan coming in here taking the coal, you know, 10,000 tonnes. It looked good and then all of a sudden they found out there was too much sulphur for the smelters."

In fact, Hamilton said the coal from the Fanny Bay mine was so high in ash that it was used as a component in cement and, at one time, a coal briquette plant was set up at the minesite.

"They tried everything," said Hamilton. "The people here tried burning them in their woodstoves and the soot was just unbelievable.

"They experimented and did all sorts of things. It's too bad, but it was one of those things."

Compliance Joint Venture's Raven coal project website can be found at www.theravenproject.ca, while the Comox Valley Coal Watch Coalition's website can be found at www.coalwatch.ca.