Wildsight and Ecojustice will demand answers from the federal government on how it plans to protect Canadians as part of the review of Glencore’s takeover of coal mines in the Elk Valley.
The two eco-advocacy groups partnered to file the legal petition last week.
“This petition will legally oblige the government to answer questions regarding how its final decision factors in the significant and foreseeable liability to taxpayers around the cleanup of these mines,” said Casey Brennan, Wildsight Conservation Director.
This comes as the Swiss-based Glencore is forking out $6.9 billion USD to acquire Teck’s coal mining assets in the Elk Valley.
That said, the deal is subject to the federal government’s approval under the Investment Canada Act.
“We’re trying to raise awareness of the risk of this sale to Glencore, who has a terrible track record of environmental, social, health, and economic harm to different communities and countries,” said Brennan.
“We are trying to create some transparency on how the government is making this decision around this potential approval and trying to understand if they are considering the incredible financial risk this could pose to the taxpayers of British Columbia.”
Brennan cited a case in which the Quebec government will likely have to foot the $85 million bill to move people away from a Glencore-owned copper smelter.
“The Quebec government has to pay for the cost of moving almost 200 homes away from Glencore’s smelter because of elevated levels of arsenic,” said Brennan.
“The taxpayers of Quebec and Canada are on the hook for relocating those families, where children have arsenic levels in their fingernails four times higher than those in other nearby communities.”
Selenium run-off from Elk Valley coal mines is already a major environmental and health concern for Wildsight and the Ktunaxa Nation.
The water pollution has impacted Sparwood, Fernie and communities in Montana and Idaho.
Given the current situation in the Elk Valley and previous environmental and health concerns brought on by Glencore’s activities, Brennan said the potential deal should be raising alarm.
“We are already in an environmental crisis, the selenium pollution in the Elk Valley is one of the worst in the world,” said Brennan.
“The B.C. government, who collects financial security for reclamation and clean-up, have likely not collected enough. Our recent report found that Teck’s $1.9 billion is woefully inadequate. Just the selenium clean-up alone would cost about $6.4 billion.”
A reclamation security, often called a ‘bond,’ is a financial commitment that mining companies must provide to pay for environmental clean-up. Brennan said it is meant to ensure the financial burden is placed on the company rather than taxpayers.
“The financial risk to taxpayers will increase exponentially if ownership of these mines passes from Canadian-owned Teck Resources to Glencore, a foreign entity that has publicly declared its intention to spin-off the mines within two years of the sale going through,” Brennan says.
“We want to know how Ottawa is factoring that risk into its decision-making, and what it’s doing to make sure polluters, not taxpayers, pay.”
The petition was filed last week and all eight questions must have a response within 120 days.
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