Minister's Response

Project

Montem Resources Alberta Operation Ltd. is proposing the Tent Mountain Mine Redevelopment Project, the restart and expansion of open-pit coal mining for the extraction and export of metallurgical (steelmaking) coal. The Project would extract 4,925 tonnes per day of raw coal over a 14-year mine life, with subsequent reclamation and monitoring. The Project would be located approximately 16 kilometres west of the town of Coleman, Alberta and physical activities would take place in Alberta and British Columbia.

Decision

Designated project.

Reasons

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada considered the potential for the Project to cause adverse effects within federal jurisdiction, adverse direct or incidental effects, public concern related to these effects, as well as adverse impacts on the Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada. The Minister also considered the analysis of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

The Minister has reached the decision that the designation of the Project is warranted for the following reasons:

• The Project may cause adverse effects within federal jurisdiction that may not be fully addressed through project design, the application of standard mitigation measures, or existing legislative mechanisms, specifically, potential effects to transboundary environments, Indigenous peoples, and fish and fish habitat, given the uncertainty related to the effectiveness of proposed measures to avoid deposition of selenium and other deleterious substances. The Minister also took into account the public concerns related to these potential effects and acknowledges that the entire Project is not captured in a single provincial assessment.
• The Project may cause adverse impacts on the rights that are recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Both provincial regulatory regimes include requirements to consult with Indigenous peoples to address potential impacts on rights and related concerns; however, due to the transborder location of the Project, neither province requires consultation with all of the Indigenous groups on both sides of the border that are potentially affected by the Project.