Notice of Scheduling of Hearing
Benga Mining Limited
Grassy Mountain Coal Project
The Joint Review Panel (the Panel) established to review the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Project (the Project) and conduct an assessment of the environmental effects of the Project will hold a public hearing on the Project. A Notice of Hearing was issued on June 29, 2020. The hearing will be held online, using electronic means (Zoom) starting on October 27, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. (MDT/MST). A complete list of the specific applications is included below.
The hearing will be open to the public via live streaming on YouTube. The YouTube recordings of the hearing will be available to view for 30 days after the close of the evidentiary portion of the hearing. A link to the YouTube recordings will be made available to all hearing participants and observers. The YouTube recordings are not the official record of the hearing.
Participants are responsible for ensuring that they have access to all evidence filed on the record of the hearing, either through the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry (Registry reference number 80101) or in their preferred format.
A test session will be held in early October 2020 so that technical issues can be identified and resolved in advance of the hearing. All hearing participants are required to attend the test session. To register for the test session please contact Elaine Arruda, Hearing Coordinator at Hearing.Services@aer.ca.
About the Project
The Project includes the construction, operation, and reclamation of an open-pit metallurgical coal mine near the Crowsnest Pass, approximately seven kilometres north of the community of Blairmore, in southwest Alberta. The production capacity of the Project would be a maximum of 4.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal per year, over a mine-life of approximately 24 years. It would include surface coal mine pits and waste rock disposal areas, a coal handling and processing plant with associated infrastructure, water management structures, an overland conveyor system, a rail load-out facility, and other facilities.
Details of the applications before the AER
| Application Type | Number | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act | 001-00403427 | Application for an approval to construct, operate and reclaim the Project. |
| Water Act | 001-00403428 | Application to transfer CNRL surface water licence on Crowsnest River. |
| Water Act | 001-00403429 | Application to transfer Municipality of Crowsnest Pass surface water licence on York River. |
| Water Act | 001-00403430 | Application for a licence to divert surface water for use in the Project. |
| Water Act | 001-00403431 | Application for an approval to capture, collect, treat, and manage surface runoff and groundwater as part of the water management program, including development of an end pit lake. |
| Coal Conservation Act | 1844520 | Application for mine licences to construct, operate, and reclaim the associated open mine pit, a north rock disposal area, a central rock disposal area, and a south rock disposal area. |
| Coal Conservation Act | 1902073 | Application for an approval to construct and operate a new coal processing plant. |
| Public Lands Act | MSL160757 | Grassy Mountain Coal Mine |
| Public Lands Act | MSL160758 | Corridor (access, conveyor, powerline) |
| Public Lands Act | LOC160841 | Railway loop and access |
| Public Lands Act | LOC160842 | Railway loop |
All documents are available on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry (Registry reference number 80101). The Joint Review Panel Agreement (Document #80) describes the Joint Review Panel’s process and mandate.
For information on the public hearing, the panel review process, or to be added to the distribution list for the project, contact Tracy Utting, Acting Panel Manager at IAAC.GrassyMountain.AEIC@canada.ca. For information on hearing procedures, contact, Elaine Arruda, Hearing Coordinator at Hearing.Services@aer.ca.
Issued September 09, 2020.
