A diverse group of Vancouver Island citizens working hard to ensure a proposed coal mine above Baynes Sound doesn’t get rubber-stamp approval is being recognized by the local chapter of the Council of Canadians.

“Each year, our chapter of the Council of Canadians presents a Community Action Award to a local group that has contributed significantly to the Comox Valley community,” says former CoC chair Gwyn Frayne.

“For the 2010 award, we have selected CoalWatch. The Council of Canadians is very committed to protecting our water and environment; we believe the Raven Coal mine threatens both.”

Barely a year old, the local CoalWatch group was born of the anxiety raised when energy consultant Arthur Caldicott presented an in-depth analysis of the mine’s potential impacts before a large community meeting at the Fanny Bay Community Hall.

John Snyder, Jaye Castleden, Campbell Connor and others took on a leadership role, forming CoalWatch Comox Valley and channelling that community concern into action.

“CoalWatch has built a network of concerned individuals, from a wide diversity of backgrounds,” said Linda Safford, a representative of Comox Valley Water Watch.

“These are people willing to stand up to government and its corporate agenda, in order to protect our birthright of water and a clean environment.

“They have fostered significant public participation and have met with federal and provincial environmental assessment officials, making a strong case to protect fragile ecosystems, including Baynes Sound and its shellfish industry – right below the proposed mine site and its tailings – from the inevitable toxins that will appear in our water and air.”

CoalWatch connected with West Coast Environmental Law, securing legal support for the fight against the mine, and then incorporated as a society.

The group also gathered backing from a variety of organizations, including the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre, Sierra Club BC and The Wilderness Committee.

“The proposed mine site is only six kilometres from Baynes Sound,” said Coalwatch Comox Valley president John Snyder.

“CoalWatch and local shellfish growers are greatly concerned about the effects that any watershed contamination would have on the thriving local shellfish industry.”

He noted that coal can be mined in a multitude of places around the world, “but you can only grow oysters in a few select areas on this planet, and Baynes Sound is one of them.”

The award is to be presented Dec. 16 at the CoC’s Christmas Potluck dinner at 5:30 p.m. at Creekside Commons.

 For more information and directions, call 250-338-2461 or 250-339-6012.  Council of Canadians

Photo: Cam Connor, Jaye Castleden and John Snyder (left to right) are the founding forces behind CoalWatch, recipient of this year’s CoC Community Action Award.