September 1, 2015

Yesterday we got some big news. 

We learned that Compliance Energy, proponent of the Raven Coal Mine, missed an important deadline to submit further information on its project to the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).

Instead, the company sent the EAO a rambling letter accusing the review agency of bias against the mine proposal!  

Compliance said the EAO has set up obstacles to make the application process harder, not given the mine a fair chance, and not shown commitment and transparency throughout the review process.

These are serious accusations, and for us, read as a desperate move by a desperate company.

The Wilderness Committee has stood with local groups and individuals from the Comox Valley to Port Alberni in opposition to the Raven Coal Mine for nearly six years. The proposal to mine over 30 million tonnes of coal and rock from a site in Fanny Bay, truck it on public highways to Port Alberni, and then ship it through the sensitive Alberni Inlet and Barkley Sound marine ecosystems is a proposal riddled with risks.

For its part, Compliance has done an absolutely terrible job making its case for the project – the mine is opposed by community organizations, citizens groups, the Fanny Bay shellfish industry and other business interests, and by all five local governments in the Comox Valley and the City of Port Alberni.

But despite two failed attempts (the first in 2013, when the EAO determined that Compliance’s application was missing hundreds of pages of required information; the second in March of this year, when Compliance suddenly withdrew their proposal from the screening period), the proponent has stubbornly vowed not to go away and promised that it would move ahead with the project.

That is, until now.

In its letter, Compliance acknowledge that it has long exceeded the 3-year deadline to complete an environmental assessment, and that the EAO may well terminate its proposal. A termination at this stage would likely end this project for good – the company’s terrible financial situation combined with the low price of coal means that restarting preliminary work is basically not an option. If that’s the case, last week’s letter serves as a bitter parting shot from a company that has no one to blame but itself.

The bottom line is that Compliance has been given ample opportunity to make its case and it simply hasn’t delivered. Part of its problem is the fact that its project is based on the finite extraction of a dirty fuel: there is simply no way to responsibly justify a new coal mine on Vancouver Island.

Is this the beginning of the end for Raven Coal? Will the EAO terminate the application for this short-sighted project once and for all?

Only time will tell, but this development is really good news. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation and updating you with any news.

Like you, we’re ready to celebrate the end of the Raven Coal Mine – a victory for Vancouver Island’s environment and all our communities!

For a clean and healthy Island,

Torrance Coste