February 5, 2015

Last fall, provincial environmental regulators received word that the application for the risky and controversial Raven Coal Mine could be re-submitted in the coming months. Almost a year and a half after it was rejected by the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), it seemed the proposal was coming back from the dead.

The proponent, Compliance Energy, vowed it would re-submit the proposal by then end of the year, which it didn’t. This is just the latest in long list of missed deadlines for the company.

Now, that re-submission has finally been made, and the mine application has entered a 30-day screening period to determine whether it contains all information required by the EAO.

This is as far as the project made it in May 2013 – during the previous screening the EAO found the application was missing hundreds of pages of information and sent the proponent, Compliance Energy, back to the drawing board.

Since then, Compliance has done absolutely nothing gain social licence or convince the public that high-impact, short term industrial activity is the right course for the Island.

The Raven Coal Mine would extract around 30 million tonnes of coal and rock over 16 years from a site near Fanny Bay in Comox Valley.

The project has been fiercely opposed by the general public, environmental groups, shellfish producers and other local businesses. All four municipal governments in the Comox Valley have opposed the mine, and the The K’ómoks First Nation has expressed concern about the mine’s impact on the riparian ecosystem and ongoing treaty negotiations.

The negative impacts of the Raven Coal Mine would include the disruption of wildlife habitat, impacts to the watershed and riparian zones, and a significant increase to the Island’s contribution to the climate crisis – among many others. It would also mean a huge increase in heavy truck traffic, since the coal would be carried on public highways 19 and 4 to the port of Port Alberni.

Click here to check out our infographic on the Top 10 Reasons to Oppose Raven Coal.

The fact is, it’s 2015, not 1915. Unsustainable boom-bust projects are no longer acceptable on Vancouver Island.

Together, we’ve pushed this mine proposal off the table before, and we can do it again.

The Wilderness Committee will be working with local groups and individuals to organize town hall meetings and other events in the coming months. We’ll also set up an online tool to help you participate in the upcoming public comment period.

So please stay tuned! We’ll need your help to bury this project for good and commit to a responsible and sustainable future on Vancouver Island.