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A large piece of mining equipment stands in the dark rock of a mine.

Coal mining in an open pit by Mark Agnor via Shutterstock

Alberta
In progress

Saying no to a coal comeback: The Vista coal mine

Coalspur Mines (Operations) Ltd. v. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change et. al.

October 14, 2020

Coal projects – such as the proposed Vista coal mine expansion – threaten the climate, human health, biodiversity, and the air, land, and water.

Thermal coal is the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel, toxic to human health and disastrous for the climate. In fact, burning coal is responsible for a nearly half of carbon emissions around the world.

That’s why Ecojustice stepped up to represent clients concerned about the Vista coal mine expansion.

If built, the proposed expansion could result in the extraction of up to 15 MT of coal per year. When shipped and consumed abroad, burning this much coal could lead to 33 MT of carbon. By comparison, the largest single source of carbon in Canada is currently another coal plant in Alberta that emits 12.7 MT of carbon dioxide a year – just over one-third of Vista’s total projected emissions.

On behalf of Keepers of the Water and the West Athabasca Watershed Bioregional Society, Ecojustice wrote to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to demand he designate the Vista coal mine expansion for a federal impact assessment. Impact assessments are critical tools that help the government understand and limit harms to environment, the climate, human health, and Indigenous Peoples.

With the help of 46 other environmental, Indigenous, health, civil society, and faith organizations, and tens of thousands of Canadians, Ecojustice and its clients scored an important victory when the Minister agreed to designate the Vista expansion for an assessment.

But Coalspur would not give up without a fight. The company filed for a judicial review of the government’s decision and named our clients as a respondent. On their behalf, Ecojustice participated in the judicial review to ensure that the Minister’s decision would be upheld and Canada’s environmental assessment laws would stand.

In July 2021, a decision in another judicial review – to which Ecojustice was not a party – overturned the Minister’s order to designate the Vista mine expansion for a federal impact assessment. Coalspur was then allowed to proceed without an assessment of all the environmental harm the expansion will bring.

Following consultation with Ermineskin Cree Nation, in September 2021 the Minister redesignated the Vista coal mine expansion for a federal impact assessment.

Coalspur is now attempting to challenge the moot ruling and relitigate the Minister’s first decision in the Federal Court of Appeal.

Ecojustice and its clients are in court to ensure that the Vista coal mine expansion project undergoes a critical impact assessment by the federal government.

Coalspur’s Vista coal mine is a massive thermal coal mine located near Hinton, Alta. If built, a proposed expansion of the mine could almost triple its current capacity, leading to an increase in pollution, infringement on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and destruction of the habitat of a federally-protected species of trout.

Simply put, the climate can’t afford a coal comeback.

The federal government has already committed to banning the export of thermal coal from Canada by 2030 and Ecojustice is determined that the Vista coal expansion project should not be allowed to proceed.

If Canada is to achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 – the minimum required for maintaining a liveable planet – we cannot continue to mine and burn thermal coal in Canada or abroad.

A win in this case would help set a precedent about the ability of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to send projects that threaten a safe and sustainable future for federal impact assessment. 

Ecojustice staff

Fraser Thomson

Daniel Cheater

Dyna Tuytel

 

Clients

Keepers of the Water

West Athabasca Watershed Bioregional Society

 

May 2022
Rio Tinto Bengalla coal mine
press release

Vista coal mine expansion project must undergo federal impact assessment

CALGARY/TERRITORIES OF THE BLACKFOOT AND PEOPLES OF TREATIES 6 AND 7, HOME TO MÉTIS NATION OF ALBERTA, REGION III – Ecojustice is in court on behalf of Keepers of the Water and the West Athabasca Watershed Bioregional Society to uphold the Minister of Environment and Climate Change’s decision to send the proposed Vista coal mine.
May 2021
A black and white image of a large machine. It works on large rocks.
press release

Ecojustice in court to fight Coalspur Mines’ attempt to expand Vista thermal coal mine without federal impact assessment

CALGARY/TERRITORIES OF THE BLACKFOOT AND PEOPLES OF TREATIES 6 AND 7, HOME TO MÉTIS NATION OF ALBERTA, REGION III – Ecojustice is in court today and tomorrow on behalf of Keepers of the Water, Keepers of the Athabasca, and the West Athabasca Watershed Bioregional Society to fight against Coalspur Mines (Operations) Ltd’s attempt to overturn.
Jul 2020
A coal mine stands on flat, wet ground. In the distance are snow capped mountains.
press release

STATEMENT: Vista coal mine expansion to undergo federal impact assessment, Ecojustice reacts

CALGARY – Ecojustice lawyer and climate program director Alan Andrews issued the following statement in response to Minister Wilkinson’s decision to designate Coalspur’s Vista coal mine expansion for a federal impact assessment: “Minister Wilkinson has shown real climate leadership by requiring that the Vista coal mine expansion go through a federal impact assessment.
Jul 2020
A large piece of mining equipment stands in the dark rock of a mine.
press release

47 Canadian orgs call out coal ‘hypocrisy’ in open-letter urging assessment for Vista mine expansion

CALGARY – Forty-seven environmental, Indigenous, health, civil society and faith organizations from across Canada have come together to demand Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson designate the Vista coal mine expansion for an environmental assessment.
Dec 2019
A large piece of mining equipment stands in the dark rock of a mine.
press release

Vista coal mine decision highlights Canada’s climate hypocrisy: Ecojustice

CALGARY – The federal government’s decision to allow a massive thermal coal project to go ahead without an environmental assessment highlights the rift between Canada’s “powering past coal” talk and its willingness to take action, Ecojustice says.