ABP frustrated with coal policy consultation

Jan 25, 2021

Members of the organization voice their concerns

Staff Writer

Farms.com

Representatives from the Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) recently released a statement over concerns their members are bringing up about open-pit coal extraction in the eastern slopes of Alberta.

Beef producers in the area are concerned about the potential impacts on water quantity and quality, air quality and biodiversity, said the statement.

“We're continually concerned about (these three issues) for our producers. Access to water, that is essential to our producers. Ensuring that we have a healthy environment to be operating in, those are all things that we continue to be concerned with, as well as access to grazing,” said Kelly Smith-Fraser, ABP chair.

On June 1, 2020 the Government of Alberta rescinded the 1976 A Coal Development Policy for Alberta. The policy divided the province into four categories which dictated where and how coal leasing, exploration and development could occur. The policy has since become obsolete and therefore it was rescinded, said the government’s website.

While future coal development projects will continue to be reviewed, producers in the area felt there wasn’t a proper public consultation before this policy change, said Smith-Fraser.

“We really believe that a proper public consultation should have occurred and appreciate the fact that (the government has) paused some of those coal leases that they had previously approved, just to go back hopefully to do a proper public consultation,” she told Farms.com.

ABP staff recognize the need to modernize outdated policy and is not opposed to environmentally responsible resource extraction but would had liked the public consultation to have occurred before the change, said the statement.

Emholk/iStock / Getty Images Plus photo

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

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