Coal Valley

Details: Published on Thursday, 06 December 2018 08:06; Written by editor

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Nearing day four of our five-day film project, we came face-to-face with an uncomfortable possibility: we may not get the chance to speak to any of the coal miners most affected by selenium pollution in the Elk Valley in northeastern B.C.

I looked at Jayce Hawkins, the filmmaker who accompanied me to the valley to document some of Canada's largest mines and the impacts of their contamination on local waterways. "I think we're going to have to go knock on doors," I said. I could feel the worried look on my face.

"Whatever you think we need to do," he said.

In my experience, most people don't love strangers with cameras who show up uninvited on their doorstep. And yet, we needed these voices.

So in we went.

What we ended up documenting, walking through the neighbourhoods of Sparwood, the epicentre of the Elk Valley's coal operations, was a profound confirmation of the culture of silence that surrounds these mines.

"I'd get in trouble." "I can't talk, my husband works at the mine." "People are scared." "I'll talk, but not on the record."

This may be part of the reason many Canadians have never heard of selenium pollution in the Elk Valley or the fact that fish there are suffering from birth defects and drinking water has been deemed unsafe for human consumption.

It could also have something to do with the fact that the mines are owned and operated by Teck Resources, one of the most influential companies in the province that, last year alone, claimed a staggering $6.1 billion in profits.

This week we bring you an original documentary short from The Narwhal, Coal Valley: The story of B.C.'s quiet water contamination crisis.

You can also read our in-depth feature to learn more.
Read on for more great stories,

Carol Linnitt
Managing editor, The Narwhal

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So, erm...we've got a big ambition we can't shake. You know how we can get.

Time and time again we’ve heard from readers who wish there was a print edition of The Narwhal.

Some people (imagine this!) don't like reading our in-depth features online. Others just like the idea of holding our award-winning photojournalism in their hands.

We don't plan on changing the nature of our digital publication. But we do love the idea of printing up a limited batch of the best of the best of The Narwhal, once a year.

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For decades B.C. failed to address selenium pollution in the Elk Valley. Now no one knows how to stop it.

By Carol Linnitt
To date, there are no proven solutions to stop the tide of selenium leaching into Canadian and U.S. waters from a 100-kilometre stretch of coal mines owned and operated by mining giant Teck Resources. Read more.

Life after coal

By Sharon J. Riley

Soon, in Alberta, there will be no more coal-fired electricity. And that means some 2,000 people working in the industry will be out of a job.

The Narwhal met with coal miners from the Highvale Mine — owned by TransAlta — near Wabamun at their union hall to talk about the transition. Read more.

This article is a photoessay, created in collaboration with photographer Amber Bracken. See her photos.

It's high time Canada recognized journalism as a public good

By Emma Gilchrist

The U.S. is now home to more than 200 non-profit newsrooms, employing more than 2,000 journalists. In Canada, you can count Canada’s non-profit news organizations — including The Narwhal — on one hand. That's because Canada hasn't deemed public interest journalism a charitable endeavour.

The federal government's new rules for media could finally change all that — opening room for more innovation, more collaboration and more media serving the public good instead of advertisers and shareholders. Read more.

‘We have been ill-prepared’: B.C. offers flooded Grand Forks businesses disaster relief six months in

By Judith Lavoie

Some say the $2.9 million in relief funds announced this week comes far too late after catastrophic floods swept through the small city in May. Many business owners have left the community permanently because of financial hardship and fears that the floods will happen again because underlying causes — including clearcut logging practices and climate change — remain in play. Read more.

Canada should rethink unproven, dangerous chemical ‘cleanup’ of marine oil spills

By Kate Logan and Chris Genovali

Canada quietly made way for the use of a chemical dispersant, known as Corexit, in the event of an oil spill in water — despite a growing body of research documenting the hazards of doing so. Read more. Nobody owns us because readers like you keep us ad-free, independent, non-profit and 100% rad. Make a donation to The Narwhal

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