British Columbia has more than 600,000 kilometres of resource roads. Every year, an additional 10,000 kilometres are added. These roads are constructed primarily for logging, mining exploration and development. While these roads play an important role for resource industries, they remain long after their industrial use has come to an end. Unfortunately, there is no … Continued
Teck’s Castle coal mine will have a federal environmental assessment, Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced today. That’s good news for fish, bears and other wildlife in BC’s southern Rockies! The Minister ordered the assessment after Wildsight and other conservation groups, First Nations, U.S. governments and hundreds of people like you requested a full federal … Continued
Teck’s Castle coal mine expansion will take down a mountain in the BC Rockies over decades and will become Canada’s largest coal mine by production. But under Canada’s environmental assessment rules, the mine apparently doesn’t qualify for a federal environmental assessment because it’s too small! How can a massive coal mine with a well known … Continued
If you drive enough on a provincial highway, it seems inevitable you will collide with an animal some day. It seems everyone has a story of a near-miss, or a collision, with wildlife while driving at high speeds. Animals dead on the side of the road are commonplace along our highways. But what if it … Continued
One doesn’t have to drive Kootenay roads for long to know we have an issue with wildlife collisions on our highways. Animal carcasses at the side of the road are commonplace and a telltale smear of blood on the highway is a reminder of how deadly the road can be. Too often the carcass is … Continued
Just downstream of Teck’s 50-square-kilometre Fording River coal mine, cutthroat trout swim in heavily polluted waters. This isolated population of trout, federally listed as a species at risk, recently collapsed, with more than 90% of adult fish gone in just two years. Now, Teck has applied to expand the Fording River mine onto Castle Mountain, … Continued
Mention the Elk Valley and lush green rainforests, rivers and streams, and craggy limestone peaks come to mind. Wildlife in abundance roam the landscape, from iconic grizzly bears and elk to the much sought-after westslope cutthroat trout found in the Elk River. A decision about the future of the Elk Valley is in the early … Continued
Everything has a breaking point. The trout population of the upper Fording River, who have long suffered toxic water pollution from Teck’s Elk Valley coal mines, not to mention destruction of their habitat, have finally reached their breaking point. Of the adult westslope cutthroat trout in this 60km stretch of river, 90% are gone in … Continued
Teck Coal had a plan to deal with Elk Valley water pollution problems, but the plan hasn’t worked. Is BC going to let Teck delay for years or will they finally stand up and enforce permits that limit water pollution? Without real changes to mining practices, the future is bleak for fish and rivers.
