ACT NOW. COMMENTS DUE BY SUNDAY, JULY 3.
Australian mining company, Allegiance, is proposing a 1000 hectare (2471 acres) metallurgical coal mine in the Telkwa River Basin in British Columbia. The Telkwa is a tributary of the Bulkley River, which in turn is a tributary of the Skeena River with its legendary runs of wild salmon and steelhead.
Similar coal mines have wreaked havoc on aquatic ecosystems elsewhere in BC. The Teck coal mines in the Elk Valley of BC have led to excess selenium, which is almost always found with coal deposits, entering the Elk River and leaching into groundwater. This has in turn led to the poisoning of wells and decreased abundance of the native Westslope Cutthroat downstream, as far as the Kootenai River of Montana. The Cutthroat that do survive are often missing opercula (bony flaps that cover and protect the gills) or have deformed spines, similar to those caused by whirling disease. To allow a similar coal mine in the Skeena River Basin would threaten the existence of the wild, native fish we cherish.
CLICK HERE TO LET BC REGULATORS KNOW THAT YOU ARE AGAINST THE PROPOSED TELKWA COAL MINE!
To submit comments: click on the white "Submit Comment" button at the link, then accept the terms and conditions, and then enter your location and comments in the appropriate boxes in the pop-up!
Points to include in your comments:
The proposed mine will
Increase selenium to levels that are toxic for fish, other aquatic life, and humans;
Possibly lead to a containment pond spill, which would result in surges of heavy metals and hydrocarbons;
Threaten the health of the Bulkley River floodplain through erosion, pollution, and create the potential for a sulfuric coal spill via a railway development for coal transport;
Increase greenhouse gas emissions through mining for and burning metallurgic coal; and
Threaten endangered mountain caribou, of which only 40 animals remain.
SAMPLE MESSAGE; PLEASE PERSONALIZE:
[MENTION YOUR CONNECTION TO THE TELKWA/SKEENA/WILD, NATIVE FISH]
I am writing to voice my disapproval of the proposed Telkwa Coal Mine. Every living thing downstream of the mine will be at increased risk of pollution, primarily from nitrate and selenium, but also from heavy metals and hydrocarbons. Other coal mines in BC have resulted in decreased fish populations and deformities in the fish that do survive. Those mines also promised to build "cutting edge" water treatment plants, only to result in ever-increasing concentrations of selenium. The proposed mine also puts human and wildlife lives in danger from a containment pond spill. The potential costs are much too great and the benefits are minimal. Please reject this ill-conceived coal mine proposal.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]