Canadian environmentalists question plan to sell coal mines above Lake Koocanusa

A pair of Canadian environmental organizations have asked Canadian regulators to consider several issues that could throw a wrench in a major coal mine sale north of the Montana border. The request tees up a decision that will have implications for Lake Koocanusa, a boundary-spanning waterway that a coal mining operation in British Columbia has polluted for decades.

Wildsight and Ecojustice submitted the petition last week out of concern that the pending sale of Teck’s coal mining operation to Swiss commodities giant Glencore bodes poorly for the prospect of adequate remediation of the land and water that have changed dramatically as a result of more than a century of coal mining in the Elk River Valley.

Wildsight Conservation Director Casey Brennan told MTFP he hopes the petition will shine a light into the “black box” surrounding Glencore’s $9 billion bid for Teck’s coal mines. More specifically, he said he hopes the petition will force Canadian agencies involved in commercial and environmental matters to consider the sale’s repercussions for taxpayers, the environment and communities living in the Kootenay watershed.