Ottawa acknowledges serious risks of Fording River mine expansion, orders further assessment

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October 30, 2025

Ottawa acknowledges serious risks of Fording River mine expansion, orders further assessment

The federal Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) has ruled that the proposed expansion of the Fording River coal mine in BC’s Elk Valley requires further assessment due to the significant potential risks it poses to water, wildlife and Indigenous rights.

The decision acknowledges mounting evidence from scientists, First Nations, communities, and environmental organizations that the mine could worsen an already dire transboundary water pollution crisis.

“We are relieved to see the federal government recognize what experts and communities have been saying for years: this expansion carries unacceptable risks to the health of rivers, fish, and downstream communities,” says Simon Wiebe, Mining Policy & Impacts Lead at Wildsight.

The Fording River mine and four other metallurgical coal mines in the area are responsible for one of the world’s worst selenium contamination issues. Selenium is an element that is necessary for life in small amounts, but in larger concentrations quickly bioaccumulates in aquatic ecosystems, leading to major reproductive failure in fish like the threatened westslope cutthroat trout. In the Elk Valley, it leaches out of massive piles of mine waste  and into adjacent waterways.

Those polluted waters flow into Montana and Idaho via the Kootenay/ai River, making this an issue of international concern. Currently, the International Joint Commission is investigating the crisis through a groundbreaking reference that involves provincial, federal, state and First Nations government representatives.

“This expansion would mean destroying even more mountain habitat for threatened bighorn sheep and grizzly bears, while also increasing waste rock piles that will leach pollutants for decades, if not centuries,” says Wiebe. “A strong federal impact assessment is the only responsible path forward.”

In making its determination, IAAC cited evidence that the mine’s expansion could cause:

  • Further harm to fish and fish habitat, including species at risk
  • Impacts to migratory birds
  • Additional pollution of international and interprovincial waterways
  • Adverse changes to the health, social, economic, and environmental conditions of Indigenous peoples
  • Interference with the exercise of Section 35 Indigenous rights

“This decision confirms that the concerns of the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation and other Indigenous governments must be taken seriously,” says Wiebe. “Federal oversight in this permitting process is necessary if we want industry to be held accountable for its pollution. The BC government is too invested in these mines to make a responsible decision.”

Wildsight is calling for a transparent review that includes meaningful public input, rigorous science, and enforceable conditions tied to real-world improvements in water quality.

“The Elk Valley has already sacrificed more than enough,” says Wiebe. “We can’t keep approving reckless mine expansions at the expense of water quality, wildlife habitat and community health.”

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Images

Image 1 — Wildsight’s Mining Policy & Impacts Lead, Simon Wiebe, holds weathered coal on Castle Mountain, the proposed expansion site for the Fording River mine seen in the background. Photo: Siobhan Williams / Wildsight

Image 2 — The existing Fording River coal mine as seen from Castle Mountain, the proposed expansion area. Photo: Siobhan Williams / Wildsight 

Image 3 — Castle Mountain’s high elevation grasslands are important Bighorn Sheep winter foraging habitat in a valley where large portions of these grasslands have been destroyed. Photo: Siobhan Williams / Wildsight 

Image 4 — Selenium contamination from coal mining in Fording River, whose waters flow into the U.S., is already a serious concern. Photo: Siobhan Williams / Wildsight