EDMONTON – The Alberta Energy Regulator says two companies have been charged over a huge spill from a coal tailings pond that fouled tributaries that feed the Athabasca River.
An estimated 670 million litres of waste water gushed out of a broken earth berm at the Obed Mountain mine near Hinton on Oct. 31, 2013.
READ MORE: ‘Major failure’ of coal mine pit releases waste water into Athabasca River
Get breaking National news
Coal Valley Resources Inc. and Sherritt International Corp. (TSX:S) face six charges under the Environmental Protection Act, Public Lands Act and Water Act.
The companies are to appear in Hinton provincial court on on Jan. 20.
READ MORE: First Nation angry with province’s response to coal mine spill
At the time of the spill, Coal Valley operated the mine as a subsidiary of Sherritt.
An Environment Canada database said shortly afterwards that the spill contained damaging compounds such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead and manganese.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Crude awakening – 37 years of oil spills in Alberta
- No Alberta representation in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet
- Trudeau’s housing strategy triggered an Alberta construction boom that isn’t slowing down
- Alberta at odds with its biggest craft brewery, Big Rock, after substantial beer tax hike
- UCP government to invest $8.5B into Alberta roads, bridges, water systems
Comments