Raven mine application submitted for assessment by environmental office

A provincial regulator's assessment of a mine that could bring three truckloads of coal to Port Alberni each hour is underway.

Public input on the Raven Underground Coal Project is expected to begin in March if the application proceeds.

On Jan. 30 Compliance Energy submitted the project to the Environmental Assessment Office, opening up a 30-day period for the regulator to determine if the application has addressed potential effects of the development.

The project proposes to produce 1 million tonnes of metallurgical coal annually... over the mine's 16-year lifespan in the Comox Valley near Fanny Bay. Port Alberni is set to be the shipping location to receive 70 coal trucks from Highway 4 each day, steelmaking material destined for markets in South Korea and Japan.

The current application follows an unsuccessful attempt by Compliance to gain regulatory approval in 2013. The provincial assessment office cited shortcomings with the 12,000-page submission's information on First Nations consultations, as well as the effects the 3,100 hectare mine would have on drinking water and air quality.

"EAO examines projects for potentially adverse environmental, economic, social, heritage and health effects that may occur," read a statement from the provincial regulator about the assessment process.

Compliance Energy's president and CEO Stephen Ellis said the project would bring 70 jobs to the Alberni Valley, including 50 tied to trucking and another 20 at the coal port. He believes the necessary information was in the last application but the EAO didn't find it. The submission was reorganized with this next attempt to better present the considerations behind the project.

"We believe that information was in there but wasn't found," said Ellis in an interview with the Times while the application was being prepared last year.

If the Raven mine passes the current 30-day assessment, a more in-depth 180-day evaluation commences. This begins with 50 days when the public can give input to the assessment office about the proposed project.

"All issues raised by government agencies, First Nations, local governments, stakeholders and the public are tracked and the proponent must respond to them," stated the provincial regulator, adding that input is posted online by the assessment office. "EAO assesses the adequacy or acceptability of responses."

From 1992 to 2012 the EAO approved 118 projects, comprising mining, energy, resort and other industrial projects. Seventy-five per cent of projects submitted to the regulator over this time period were approved.

As part of a large working group of municipalities and organizations that could be affected by the coal mine, the City of Port Alberni plays a role in the ongoing assessment process. In November Compliance distributed the application to working group members, and Port Alberni's evaluation will be informed by the newly assembled Raven Underground Coal Environmental Application Review Committee. This appointed group is comprised of experts in fish habitat, wildlife and socio-economic dynamics, as well as community representatives Jane Armstrong and Maggie Paquet, who lobbied the city to form the committee.

The Environmental Assessment Office's decision on the Raven mine is expected on March 2. B.C. legislation requires the assessment office to advertise the public input period at least seven days before this stage commences.

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