Family run coal mine defies odds in oil rich Alberta

In a province where oil and gas rule the industry world, one family has made a niche for themselves in another part of the energy sector.

Dodd’s Coal Mine has been operating east of Edmonton since 1908, and for the last 55 years it has been run by the same family.

Paula Bowal, her sister, and their families have been running the mine since they took over from Paula’s father in the 1980’s.

"We were coal miner’s daughters and now we’ll just be coal miners!" Paula said of the decision to take on running the mine.

But at the time, the decision was not quite so simple. While Alberta has been home to more than 1,700 coal mines since the 1800’s, there are now less than a dozen left in the province.

The Dodd’s Coal Mine is smaller than most.

"We represent a fraction of 1%." Mine manager Don Bowal says. "Most of the other mines will mine out more coal in a week than we’ll do in a whole year."

The mine continued to do business though, and has been so successful that in recent years, the original mine site ran dry.

"We finally had to make a decision, ‘Are we going to pack it in and call it a day or are we going to expand once more?’" Don Bowal said.

The family decided to continue, investing millions into expanding the site. They investment was a success, and the Dodd Coal Mine tripled production.

Now as Paula’s generation prepares to retire, the next generation is ready to step in and take over operations. David Bowal is a NAIT business graduate, and a third generation miner.

"I’ve always wanted to make my parents proud, take over from them and show them that I’m able to take the mine to the next level and exceed their expectations." He said. "Coal mining’s in my blood and I’m going to be happy to do this job for the next 40 or 50 years."

With files from Ryan Ellis.