COAL, CROPS AND COMPLIANCE
BY MELANIE EPP • ILLUSTRATION BY DOMINIC BUGATTO
The proposed reopening of the Grassy Mountain coal project on Alberta’s Eastern Slopes has prompted questions about selenium and downstream water quality among scientists, citizens and farmers. In a January Grainews column, retired agronomy research scientist Ross McKenzie raised concerns about selenium mobilization and its persistence in watersheds downstream from the Eastern Slopes. In July, ecotoxicologist Guy Gilron responded in a letter to the editor, arguing that guideline exceedances do not necessarily translate into risk and that regulatory controls exist, characterizing McKenzie’s warning as alarmist.
The Irrigation District Water Quality (IDWQ) program discontinued selenium monitoring and reporting after 2015, so irrigation program results are not available. In written replies, regulators did not provide intake specific selenium limits or note the required actions tied to an exceedance at irrigation intakes. Alberta specific evidence on soil and crop uptake under Prairie irrigation conditions is also limited.
The possible impact of Eastern Slopes’ coal mining can’t be known without data. In his column, McKenzie noted the critical level for selenium in irrigation water for Alberta is 20 micrograms per litre (20 μg/L). Evidence-based decision-making will require current, irrigation relevant selenium data, clear intake limits that trigger defined actions and Alberta specific soil and crop research to resolve these unknowns.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF GRASSY MOUNTAIN
Grassy Mountain is not a new coal mining project. The site was first mined in the early 20th century and then left largely unreclaimed. In 2018, a joint federal–provincial review panel convened to assess a proposal from Benga Mining Limited. The Australian company had applied to initiate a new open-pit metallurgical coal mine at the site, which triggered a federal environmental assessment and the provincial approvals process. Following hearings, the panel found the project “not in the public interest” in June 2021.
In December 2024, Alberta announced the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative, which banned new open-pit and mountaintop-removal mines while it allowed certain “advanced projects,” including Grassy Mountain, to continue through review. In May 2025, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) approved Northback Holdings’ exploration program at the Grassy Mountain site. Northback is the successor to Benga Mining Limited.
PERSPECTIVES FROM COUNCIL TO FARM GATE
The Grassy Mountain file remains contentious, drawing sustained public attention and concern from researchers, local officials and farmers. The National Farmers Union (NFU) opposes reopening Grassy Mountain and calls for reinstatement of the 1976 coal policy, citing selenium risk to farmland and public water supply in the drought-stressed Oldman system. “This rollback of Alberta’s coal policy represents a serious threat to farmers…. The principal threat lies with selenium contamination,” said NFU Alberta board member Glenn Norman.
“The provincial government needs to reinstate the coal policy from 1976 in its entirety,” added member Neil Peacock. The Province’s 1976 Coal Development Policy created four land categories and barred surface mining on Category 1 Eastern Slopes headwaters.
Grassy Mountain lies within the Municipal District of Ranchland No. 66 at the Oldman headwaters that supply downstream irrigators. District reeve Ron Davis described the basin as low flow with rationing in recent years and said the area experiences very strong winds that can move dust long distances. “There probably hasn’t been enough study on how it would affect grain growing,” he said, referring to selenium buildup in water and soil.
Retired provincial biologist Lorne Fitch said the concern is about pathways and persistence rather than single measurements. “Selenium is one of these elements that bioaccumulates, and so it grows in magnitude as it moves through the food chain. They cannot trap all of the water that runs off a mountaintop mine.”
His remarks align with peer-reviewed field work led by Colin A. Cooke, a senior aquatic scientist for the provincial government. The report, published in June 2024, found elevated selenium immediately below legacy waste rock in the Crowsnest system, lower concentrations in Crowsnest Lake and a sediment core record that indicated accumulation during mining years that persists above pre-mining levels. Cooke did not respond to requests for comment.
Fitch also noted the region’s reliance on headwaters. He estimated more than 80 per cent of flows in southern Alberta rivers used for irrigation come from the Eastern Slopes.
Native trout are an early warning indicator of watershed condition, acting as the proverbial canary in the coal mine. “When they’re healthy that tells me the watershed is in a high degree of ecological health,” said Fitch. Their disappearance, he added, “should set off alarm bells for downstream water users.”
In 2021, the joint review panel raised similar concerns, concluding the proposed project was likely to cause significant adverse effects on westslope cutthroat trout and degrade surface water quality, including from selenium effluent. The panel also determined the project was likely to harm the physical and cultural heritage of the Kainai, Piikani and Siksika First Nations. It concluded the proposal was not in the public interest.
An Alberta grain farmer whose land is in the Oldman watershed and asked to remain anonymous, said the concern is about operational continuity. If selenium at an irrigation intake exceeds a limit, would diversions be halted? when would farmers be notified? how long would the interruption last?
WHAT REGULATORS SAY
The AER said coal applications must include selenium management plans that follow Alberta’s surface water quality guidelines. Reviews consider cumulative effects, and approvals can carry monitoring conditions, inspections and enforcement. In its written replies, the AER did not provide intake specific selenium limits for irrigation intakes or note the actions required in the case of an exceedance.
Alberta Environment and Protected Areas pointed to an ambient river monitoring network that includes selenium and said early triggers apply in sensitive systems. Its reply likewise did not provide intake specific limits or action protocols for irrigators.
In an email exchange, water quality specialist Janelle Villeneuve confirmed the IDWQ program operated by the Alberta Irrigation Districts Association is ongoing. Though it no longer tests for metals, including selenium, it has continued monitoring southern Alberta irrigation water at sites across the province through 2025. Villeneuve said metals were found to be of geologic origin and at low concentrations that pose little risk for irrigation and livestock use; selenium was detected at low levels and never exceeded Alberta guidelines for those two uses, with a few occasional exceedances of the 2 µg/L aquatic life guideline in water samples prior to 2016.
At a July 31, 2025, town hall meeting in Fort Macleod, Premier Danielle Smith reiterated that Alberta will not allow new open-pit or mountaintop removal mines, adding, however, that four “advanced projects,” including Grassy Mountain, remain in process. On selenium, she cited 1.3 µg/L in Crowsnest Lake, which she said is “well below” the 50 µg/L drinking water limit. She acknowledged bioaccumulation can occur in fish and said the Province is following the science.
She also argued that metallurgical coal is needed to make steel. “You can’t make solar panels without coal. You can’t make wind turbines without coal,” she said. “You can’t drive tractors without making the steel that is going to allow you to make that kind of equipment.” In contrast with the Premier’s statement about domestic needs, the 2021 joint review record describes the proponent’s product as an export metallurgical coal.
At the same meeting, metallurgist Cornelis Kolijn, an expert witness on coal quality during the 2020-21 hearings, raised questions about the project’s viability, describing Grassy Mountain coal as substandard for long-term steelmaking blends. He said most of the deposit is of inferior quality and the blend profile would degrade quickly, concluding that the project was not worth the risk.
He further noted that revenue depends on quality, which in turn determines the mining company’s capacity to fund water treatment and reclamation over decades. “The market will focus on high-quality coal, which they don’t have, so they won’t get the price to do a proper mining job.”
EVIDENCE STILL NEEDED
In his testimonial, Fitch focused on duration. Selenium moves through food webs and settles in sediments, and it can persist once it enters a headwater system. He also noted the ability to capture runoff is limited on large, disturbed rock areas in steep terrain. For irrigation users, the issue is whether small inputs accumulate over years at points that affect water supply.
McKenzie shifted the lens to farmland. Irrigation applies water to soil every season. The agronomic questions that arise focus on cumulative loading of selenium in Prairie rotations, what remains in the root zone and what crops take up. The downstream analysis required to quantify impact would include intake measurements where districts divert water and trials that test soil accumulation and uptake for cereals, oilseeds and potatoes under typical schedules.
In his rebuttal to McKenzie, Gilron emphasized regulatory frameworks and the principle that a guideline exceedance does not automatically imply risk. Gilron’s viewpoint depends on measurement of the right parameters at the right locations and on clear, irrigation specific triggers that lead to timely actions. Intake limits and the steps that would follow an exceedance have not appeared in public responses. Furthermore, the irrigation program has not produced selenium results since 2015. No Alberta-specific research links measurements to on-farm outcomes.
For farmers, this is a planning problem. Water allocations, input purchases and delivery contracts are set well ahead of the growing season. If an intake crosses a limit, they need to know who must be notified, when diversions change and when service will resume. Without intake numbers and a published procedure, risk cannot be priced into rotations, contracts or contingency plans. The gaps are in regulatory clarity and understanding how selenium behaves under Prairie irrigation conditions.
Fitch and McKenzie both agree more data is needed before any new mining on the Eastern Slopes is approved. This includes the publication of current selenium measurements at major irrigation intakes. Clear irrigation limits must be set and action protocol must be established in the event of an exceedance. As well, short trials must be funded to determine whether, under Prairie irrigation, low, chronic selenium amounts accumulate in soils or crops to levels of concern. Until such data exists, the debate about the potential effects of coal mining on agriculture downstream from the Eastern Slopes will remain ongoing.
Addendum: As of GrainsWest press time, the Globe and Mail reported that Northback Holdings plans to submit a new Grassy Mountain mine proposal to the AER, with a smaller footprint, lower projected output and a new multi-tier water/selenium management plan that includes placing waste back into the pit rather than into Gold Creek. The new submission will likely undergo AER review to determine whether the changes address concerns raised in the 2021 joint review panel decision.
Grassy Mountain: A timeline
1910–1968: Underground coal mining operates intermittently in the Grassy Mountain area.
Late 1940s–1960s: West Canadian Collieries develops a surface mine in Grassy Mountain north of Blairmore.
1969: A provincial report documents the Grassy Mountain strip mine as “abandoned for years” with “no reclamation … done” at that time.
2013: Riversdale/Benga acquires the Grassy Mountain property and coal leases from Devon Canada and Consol of Canada.
March 19, 2015: AER issues final terms of reference for the project’s environmental impact assessment; the federal process also begins in March 2015.
Aug. 16, 2018: A joint federal–provincial review panel is established to assess the project.
Oct. 27, 2020 – Jan. 15, 2021: Public hearings conclude.
June 17, 2021: Joint review panel releases its report and denies provincial applications, finding the project “not in the public interest.”
Aug. 6, 2021: Federal government issues a decision statement that says the project cannot proceed due to possible significant adverse environmental effects.
Dec. 20, 2024: Alberta announces the Coal Industry Modernization Initiative, banning new open-pit and mountaintop removal mines on the Eastern Slopes while allowing several “advanced projects” (including Grassy Mountain) to continue through regulatory processes.
May 15, 2025: AER approves Northback Holdings’ coal exploration program, a deep drilling permit and a temporary diversion licence for the site.
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