Coal mining revival in Crowsnest Pass eyed by Australian company
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/coal-mining-revival-in-crowsnest-pass-eyed-by-australian-company-1.2781083
Riversdale will be hosting an open house today (Sept 30) from 2-6pm and tomorrow (Oct 1) from 2-7pm at the Crowsnest Pass Sports Complex.
They will be providing updates on the following topics:
Options for the rail and train load out.
Ongoing Environmental studies
Feasibility Study.
NOTE: Three options presented for the load-out, which I was told will be a 50' high enclosed building, trains will be up to 152 cars with three engines which is 8300' in length. The load-out will hold enough coal to load one train (16,000 plus tonnes) At two million tonnes there will be a train on average every third day.
Two options; show by my count nine holes of the golf courses including the club house area being taken out. To allow for the train to loop around and be loaded, on one option it shows the load-out about 1-1.5km up the hill from the highway. The second of these options shows the load-out adjacent to the highway a little east of where the golf course parking lot is. With both of these options the train will go under highway 3 roughly where the entrance to the old highway is, west of Tim Hortons.
The third option is running the coal by conveyor under the highway similar to the above, west of Tim Hortons again, with the belt going through the old pole plant yard to a load-out just west of that. There will be an additional rail siding there which will mean that the trains will require at least 8300' of track on each side of the load-out.
25 comments:
I am very concerned over the proposed location and process for getting the coal into the railcars that was brought up at the open house.This will be an industrial eyesore right in the middle of the community. Not to mention issues with pollutants and dust control, that can't be healthy.
Tell me it can't be true. Riversdale are looking at placing their load out at the old pole plant in Coleman????
You guys allow this in Coleman it will return us to the days of Coleman Colleries.
Wake up its 2014
As I understood it, the location of the warehouse will be just west of Blairmore, across from the Ironstone Lookout out condos. Dean, is that correct? In my opinion, Riversdale should use an existing industrial site, further from the community. The old site in Coleman would be preferable to what they are suggesting now.
Here we go,nimby. Did you guys not think this through at all. Where should the load out be? I know, anywhere except near my back yard. If this mine goes there are going to be some pretty upset people in the CNP. There is no way they can build this mine and have it not affect some people. We can not have it both ways. I did not go to the open house, so how are they proposing to get the coal to that site? Maybe a load out close to where Devon was might be a better idea. Or maybe a spur line a whole lot closer to the site might also work. Under the highway? Over? I see many challenges ahead and no easy solutions so be prepared for the"nimby"
what the hell is a nimby?
It means Not In My Backyard. N.I.M.B.Y.
Not exactly in the backyard if it is out front and center for everyone to see and drive past, not to mention all that dust.
A loadout as near as possible to the mine would be the best. But they should find a different route for the rail line, not through the golf course. What if they had a loadout at the Devon site and trucked the coal. It is probably not cost effective but all of the other options are also going to be quite expensive up front. It will be impossible to please everybody.
What a bunch of BS. If you think a "little" dust is bad, let's start with the mine site and the water quality and coal waste issues. No way that the watershed won't be affected, and this is the key to letting the mine go forward. Won't happen.
Better get the Natural Conservation bunch buying up the critical land to stop the loading site being set up in or around town. I'd bet there would be a lot of investors for that project.
These bunch of Aussies think that we are in the Australian Outback or in Mozambique where they had some friendly politicians. Time to throw the bunch out now. Why do you think they left the Alaska mine development? They weren't welcome. Same as here.
Anon 9:29 Except that they are welcome here. This community is not against coal mining. It would not even exist if it were not for mining. As for the dust, I was in Sparwood over the weekend and I looked for signs of dust in town and could not find any.Is there a perfect solution for this mine, probably not. Can we find ways to make the mine fit better into the community, yes.
I think as a community we have to work together for the greater good of the community with a balance between the mine and tourism. Also between those that think jobs are important against the environmentalists who have their own ideas.
Considering that tourism has not actually taken off here and the fact that there are very few jobs here we had better make sure that we get this right.
Anon 09:11 AM Mon. Anon 9:29 here, I agree but loading out in the middle of town is like sucking in the coal dust from the old Coleman tipple and the old slack piles on the old days.
True, not much can match the old Michael Natal days, but surely if the mine can't be economical setting up at the old Devon plant site, or heaven forbid Passburg Burmis to accommodate the Adanac and Lynx Creek future projects, then so be it. Whoever the engineers are at this planning stage are either passing on their master's viewpoint or are setting us up for a lesser but acceptable evil, like Devon.
Sparwood is a loooong way from the loading facility, not in town as are the choices given to us. Regarding environmental, we will see how they address the water issue. Riverdale is already blaming the old digs for water quality problems, and not their future selenium flow from the new digs and piles, let alone the explosive nitrogen. They are playing this down like we are hillbillys. Let's have a little rational thinking here from them, jobs or no jobs.
Anon 7:19 Pretty much agree with you. I never worry about anything on the environmental side though. I know that the environmentalists will not let anything slide. I actually think that this will be the biggest hurdle for this mine to overcome.
Not sure how having a load out in the middle of a community actually improves the quality of life of that community. Why not closer to Grassie? It would save Riversdale having to purchase land, minimize human impact (air quality, noise), and leave an open future for thePass, that could imagine BOTH tourism and mining.
The one dimensional thinking exhibited so far doesn't bode well for our future. Is Riversdale trying to figure out what we will sell our souls for, with proposals that border on the silly?
Oct 08@8:42pm, you have hit it on the head. These guys think they are in the African wilds or dealing with the Abos in the Outback. The proposal is an insult, with little concern for livability in the Pass. They will prove up the mine reserve, get the Plans in place, issue a Private Placement or the like, and then sell out to a multinational and move on to the next deal. When the going gets tough, they cut and run like in Alaska.
Grassy is a long shot at best unless Riverdale can satisfy the environmentalists and show that their water and runoff management plan is feasible. All talk so far, with a few hints where they stand what with their Loadout Options. The Highway 3 corridor through the towns should be off limits. Anyone want to buy a condo at Ironstone or build a house looking down on this operation? I doubt it.
Perhaps I am envisioning the Loadout site wrongly. This is not a town building into an industrial site, but the other way around. Besides, they will ramp production up to the max and that will mean almost constant loading, which when combined with the increased CPR rail traffic will give us a moving rail yard right inside the towns.
Either the Project is viable with an out of town Loadout, or SHUT IT DOWN NOW. Why not combine the Élan and Riverdale load outs at the Devon site, and save us all a long battle.
Dean, I Wonder how many of the negative comments are from coal miners making a living from the coal. Why do you think there are people living in the Crowsnest Pass. Is it because of the abundance of industry and jobs here? Take away the coal industry and what do we have? We can do this right. Why is it other parts of Alberta is growing and not the Crowsnest Pass? How many young people are staying? Bring on industry but do it right.
8:56 you make some very good comments. Which I agree with for the most part. The load out in Coleman is something I will strongly oppose. Other options must be explored.
Dean Ward
Having a load out in the middle of town makes no sense whatsoever. I work in a coal mine and I know the pollution both dust and noise that a loadout are produces! They should be forced to do the load out at the mine, as they do in the elk valley and then join up to the main rail line. This would make way more economic and environmental sense!
the load out should at the mine site with a spur line going up to it similar to what Greenhills has
I think a little competition is what the other mining company needs.We need this to work for all the guys and gals in the mining industry currently to be closer to home.There has to be a better location then the ones listed though.Very happy to see Riversdale here!
ThAts a lot of track. ...there's 5280 ft in one Mile
So put it in Passburg. In Police flats east of Bellevue
Money Talks and BS. Walks .....the almighty Dollar
Prevails once again. Status Quo
If there is a way, there is a will. We need industry here, we are going nowhere fast. I have lived in Coleman my whole life, we all learned to adapt and the so called pollutants have not affected my family from past to present. I forgot Blairmore is more precious than the rest of us.
Reading over the comments. Time most of the posters pulled their head out of their ass!! Wet loading is the new norm for loading coal, please visit any of the Teck mines on a windy day and see for yourself. Noise from the trains is a issue when they are stopping, or starting, but that is different then what happens presently how?? Water quality, with the introduction of the water purification standards forced on TECK in the Elk Valley I see no reason for concern. However Blair Painter and his crew have acknowledged the level of contamination from the ash pile at the old power plant at Crowsnest Lake and never done anything to clean up the mercury, lead, PCBs or any of the other goodies leaking into our water supply. If the new mine can collapes the exposed mine shafts, bring a little growth to the CNP and is willing to offset their operations with a major tree planting program then I am okay with the project going ahead. PS I have seen pictures of the CNP valley prior to 1850, and unlike now it was totally covered in old growth forest. For the enviro mentals out there, put you hands to work, and give your stupidity a break, plants trees!! Or Get OUT!
I see anonymous above cannot form a logical argument if he\she tried. The reason we no old growth left is because of industrial activities. As soon as the planted trees are big enough to harvest, they are cut down. And the vast majority of the wood here is of poor quality and used for fence posts and chipped up for landscaping. That is hardly a recipe for old growth forests. We do not need to base our economy on a one trick pony and the boom/bust cycles that go along with resource based economies. If people around here were smart, they would be pushing for a more diverse economy. Why not try to attract technology companies? There are 4 accredited schools nearby that would be good recruiting ground and we have better recreational opportunities. We just need people with creativit and vision and are not hampered by the ideas of old.
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