Local shellfish growers say part of the environmental assessment for the proposed Raven Coal mine is a "red herring."

A baseline study of Baynes Sound will be completed, but but most of the work will be done by a company contracted by Compliance Energy Corporation.

"It looks like all the dots and T's are going as our request but in reality we are not happy," explains  Roberta Stevenson from the BC Shellfish Growers Association (BCSGA).  "We think that AMEC, employed by Compliance Energy Corp should not being doing the work."

BCSGA recommended some changes to the original requirements of the environmental assessment and says some were acted upon, but mainly for political, not scientific reasons.

"We still feel that it falls short of some of our requests and of course with mines and BC we question whether or not the science is complete enough, or if theres often of course political ramifications," said Stevenson. "We all want more employment in the Valley, that's not to be questioned, we would welcome those jobs. We just feel they are incompatible with the jobs we already offer."

The BCSGA listed these recommendations as ones not taken into consideration by proponent of the Raven Coal Mine.

1. That the baseline survey done in Baynes Sound be conducted by a third party, independent company. In the final draft, the experimental design, lab work and data analysis will be carried out by AMEC, a company that has been working for Compliance Coal Corp. for the duration of the process, who have no experience with the marine environment in Baynes Sound nor the aquaculture industry.

2. That the study areas in Baynes Sound be scientifically defined based on the area hydrology. The marine temporal boundaries have not been updated and should be based on the hydrodynamic study of Baynes Sound which should be completed before the study area and sampling locations are defined.

3. That the economic importance of the shellfish be recognized as a sustainable and commercially viable industry in the region. There is no mention throughout the entire 239 page document that recognizes the economic value of the Baynes Sound shellfish industry which is a long term sustainable industry that produces approximately $28 million of shellfish yearly and employs approximately 600 people from coastalcommunities.

The Compliance Energy Corporation, as part of their Comox Joint Venture, have their eye on the coal under 29,000 hectares of land stretching from Fanny Bay to Campbell River, and has claims to even more. It is looking at both underground and open pit mining. At Raven, the company plans to extract 30 million tonnes of raw coal in the next 16 years, shipping out 13 million tonnes, and leaving behind 17 million tonnes (nine million cubic meters) of potentially acid-generating rejects in the hills above Baynes Sound.

"We just want to make sure every angle is fair, transparent and thorough," said Stevenson. "We would like to see some sort of education process within the Courtenay-Comox town proper, to make sure everyone is aware of what this could mean to the area."