The coal company behind a 2013 wastewater spill into the Athabasca River near Hinton was handed a $4.4-million penalty June 9 in Hinton Provincial Court.
Prairie Mines & Royalty ULC, formerly known as Coal Valley Resources Inc., pleaded guilty to one charge under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and two counts of violating the Fisheries Act.
“We laid the charges because the company, they broke the rules. If energy operators do not follow AER (Alberta Energy Regulator) requirements they know they may face harsh penalties,” said Ryan Bartlett with AER Public Affairs.
The Aspen Regional Water Services Commission – serving the Town of Athabasca, Village of Boyle and parts of Athabasca County – turned off its water intake for a period of a about 10 days in November 2013 after the release was reported. The contaminants ranged from mercury, lead and arsenic to cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the open pit mine 15 kilometers northeast of Hinton had a tailings pond that was designed to not exceed a capacity of 1,440 metres. In July 21, 2011 the wastewater level was recorded at 1,443.6 metres.
The statement also says that in June 2012, a junior engineer recommended wastewater be pumped out of the pit to reduce water levels and a spillway be constructed, which was never done.
In November 2012, the mine prepared for reclamation and stopped processing coal, laying off half of the mine employees. The pump removing water from the pit was shut off, but natural precipitation continued to accumulate in the pit.
The statement reads that on Oct. 8, 2013 the plant began processing coal again in order to use up a remaining stockpile before continuing with reclamation. At that time, a single pump was used to remove wastewater from the pit. On Oct. 31, a second pump was taken up to the pit because increased water seepage was observed around the base of the dike. The second pump was never put into operation and the dike “failed catastrophically” shortly before 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31.
The dike failure allowed 670 million litres of water and 90,000 tonnes of sediment into Apetowun Creek. As the spill moved downhill it eroded soil, uprooted trees vegetation and aquatic life and then entered Plante Creek, which empties into the Athabasca River. The release lasted for 29 hours.
The statement also said the defendant spent $55 million in response to the incident, and CVRI/Prairie Mines have no prior convictions.
Keepers of the Athabasca co-ordinator Marie Breiner was in the courtroom as the coal mining company was given their penalty. She said she was happy to see the fine as high as it was.
“I generally really hope that this case can be an example for the futur,e to make industry realize if you have a breech of a tailing pond in Alberta you are going to pay,” she said. “Hopefully, this can inspire, to have better practice around tailing ponds in the future.”
She added one of the impacts of this spill has been a sense of distrust in towns down the Athabasca River over the quality of water coming out of their tap. She said one indigenous group read aloud a statement, which addressed how much this spill has affected their trust of the land and water.
The statement of facts also said scientists found the release from the wastewater pond has had no long-term impact on the Athabasca River or on the fish populations. Apetowun Creek is home to an endangered species – rainbow trout – and while the plume destroyed 3.5 kilometres of spawning ground, the trout have repopulated since.
As part of the company’s penalty under the EPEA, Prairie Mines & Royalty ULC was given a creative sentencing order to both pay $363,000 to fund a dam safety research project for mine water storage and pay $470,000 for an indigenous youth environmental education project.
