It’s the oldest-standing settlement along the Crowsnest Pass and the heart of a historic coal industry.
“Coal mining is boom and bust,” said 91-year-old Carol Aebli. “And when we’re a bust, everybody suffers.”
Having walked the streets of Blairmore, Alta., for more than 70 years, Aebli is among the many area residents hoping to see business boom again.
“It’s not fair to put a community like this in jeopardy,” said Aebli. “We need to live too.”
Facing massive public pressure, in 2022, the provincial government announced a moratorium on new coal applications on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Proposed developments, like the one proposed for grassy mountain — just outside Blairmore — were the source of deep controversy.
“It’s not the right place to do coal development of any kind,” said Bobbi Lambright with the Livingstone Landowners Group.
Benga mining’s application in the exploration and drilling of metallurgical coal was denied by a joint federal-provincial review panel in 2021, as well as in an appeal.
Last week, the same parent company submitted a new application under the name Northback Holdings.
“It’s the same company doing the same thing,” said Lambright.
The company didn’t respond to requests from Global News for comment.
“The 2022 ministerial order restricts coal projects but does allow for exceptions for active coal mines, for advanced coal projects and for safety and security activities.”
Both the minister and the Alberta Energy Regulator suggest because the project was filed several years before the ministerial order, it qualifies as an advanced coal project (AER), exempting it from the moratorium.
As with all applications, the AER will undertake a detailed review, which will include a thorough examination to ensure that the rules, regulations, and requirements that govern exploration are met and consider any SOCs filed on the application, before a decision whether to grant or deny the application is made.”
Landowners have filed a statement of concern.
“People in Alberta, who took the time and had the energy to fight this last time, are feeling very betrayed,” said N0rma Dougall with the group.
They’re joined by biologists expressing concerns about potential impacts to precious water resources.
“It just doesn’t make sense to take a diminishing resource like water and use it for something as trivial as washing coal,” said biologist Lorne Fitch.
But it’s far from a trivial prospect for many area residents, including Carmen Linderman with Citizens Supportive Crowsnest Coal.
“It will bring high-paying jobs, it’ll bring attract permanent family and youth into our community. It’ll provide infrastructure and an industrial tax base to our community, which is something that we don’t have right now,” said Linderman.
“We have the same concerns, too,” Linderman added. “We’re concerned about the environment; we’re concerned about the water. We live here with our kids, swim in the rivers, we recreate here, we fish here, we raise our families here, nobody wants to see anything bad happen to the environment or the water.
“So, if a company can prove to the Alberta Energy Regulator that they can mine responsibly. They should. If they can take care of the economy and help our industry, we should support them. And we do.”
And while the project has many more hurdles to face before any possible approval, the fact that Alberta is considering the application is a step down a highly contentious coal town road.