National Observer $

This BC coal mine expansion is unpopular with groups on both sides of the border

By Natasha Bulowski on July 29, 2026

Environmental groups from both Canada and the United States say the federal and BC governments cannot be trusted to impartially judge a coal mine expansion proposal in BC’s Elk Valley. Selenium pollution has been at the heart of resistance to the expansion project. Decades of coal mining in the Elk Valley have continuously polluted the Kootenay River watershed with selenium, which flows into a human-made lake straddling the US-Canada border with Montana.   Read more

Mongabay

Proposed mine expansion raising pollution concerns in Canada and US

By Ruth Kamnitzer on July 29, 2026

The Elk Valley in southeast British Columbia is home to Canada’s four largest coal mines. With a proposed mine expansion moving through environmental assessment, people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border worry the valley’s decades-old pollution problem could get even worse. Industrial coal mining in the Elk Valley goes back more than 50 years. The valley’s mines, currently owned by Elk Valley Resources (EVR), supply 77% of Canada’s metallurgical coal, a grade of coal used in steel making, according to a 2024 report produced for EVR. The vast majority of this coal was exported to Asia. EVR’s largest mine, Fording River Operations (FRO), is expected to run out of coal within a decade. The proposed Fording River Extension (FRX) would open 2,031 hectares (5,019 acres) on Castle Mountain, adjacent to the existing mine, and operate for about 35 years. The FRX is currently moving through a coordinated federal-provincial environmental impact assessment. Three proposed new coal mines, not linked to EVR, are also currently in the environmental assessment process.  Read more

The Narwhal

Coal mine pollution: international inquiry details plan to investigate Canada, U.S. contamination

After decades of pollution from B.C. coal mines, an international inquiry is proposing to spotlight solutions to issues like selenium contamination.

By Ainslie Cruickshank on February 4, 2025

The Canada-U.S. treaty organization investigating transboundary water pollution from coal mines in southeast British Columbia offered new details Monday about its plan to study the contentious issue, and is now seeking public input…. According to the new proposed plan, an expert panel will compile existing data on water quality and impacts to human and ecosystem health — and explore potential solutions to reduce the flow of pollution from the mines. … Rich Janssen, head of the natural resources department and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes” “We need to see sound science,” he said. “We need to see the data for the mining impacts to fish, water and people and make every effort to heal the watershed.”  Read more

Montana Free Press

Study finds mining-related pollution 350 miles downstream of Canadian coal mines

Regulators in the U.S. say the study shows that dangerous levels of selenium are entering the waterways of Montana and Idaho.

By Amanda Eggert on September 19, 2024

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey have concluded that a large coal-mining operation in British Columbia is sending pollution more than 350 miles downstream into the Columbia River. The study also found that selenium levels in the Upper Columbia watershed continue to rise in British Columbia, Montana and Idaho, despite Elk Valley Resources’ $1.4 billioninvestment in technology to remove selenium, a trace element that can hamper fish reproduction and lead to gill, facial and spinal deformities.  Read more

Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 2024

Evidence of Long-Range Transport of Selenium Downstream of Coal Mining Operations in the Elk River Valley, Canada

Foster, M. J., Storb, M. B., Blake, J. M., Schmidt, T. S., Nustad, R. A., & Bussell, A. M.

Summary: Selenium from Elk Valley mines is transported over 575 river km. Flow-normalized Selenium concentrations increased between 35-89% from 2005-2021. No increases were seen at sites unaffected by Elk Valley Pollution. Average annual loads of Se concentrations had increased by an order of magnitude at mine-affected sites.  Full paper

Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 2022

Transboundary atmospheric pollution from mountaintop coal mining

Cooke, C. A., & Drevnick, P. E.

Summary: Dust created through coal mining in the Elk Valley was detected on the opposite side of the continental divide in the eastern slopes of Canada’s Rocky Mountains. A sediment core from a high alpine lake composed of a 30x increase in environmental contaminants that align with coal mined in the Elk Valley.  Full paper