Selenium on agenda at SPC meeting

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on April 11, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Not all selenium can be removed from municipal water supplies.
That was one of the messages the Economic and Finance Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council heard on Thursday when it met at council chambers.
The committee consists of the mayor and all members of council.
At its Feb. 25 meeting, council asked City administration to give a presentation at Thursday’s SPC on potential water quality concerns for the city related to coal mining if an operation is approved on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Concerns have been raised about the potential for selenium  contamination in the Oldman River and its impact on fish, humans and  agriculture.
A report was submitted by Waste and Environment general manager Mandi  Parker and presented to the SPC by Environment Manager Mark Svenson. Members of the public were given the opportunity to talk on the subject.
The SPC heard that in the last decade, selenium concentrations in the Oldman River have ranged from 0.0004 to 0.001 mg/L. After treatment, selenium concentrations were between 0.0003 to 0.001 mg/l which “highlights the fact that the Lethbridge Water Treatment Plant cannot  remove selenium (or metals in general) from source water,” the report states.
That report notes that rain and snow on waste rock from coal mining  can be a source of selenium, adding that the further from the source,  the lower concentrations of “elements of concern” are found.
“Studies have shown that elements of water quality related to coal mining vary depending on the type of rock the coal is found in. In addition, the type and concentration of elements found downstream of  coal mines depends greatly on the amount of water leaching (filtering)  down through the waste rock,” says the report.
“While the Lethbridge water treatment plant operates under strict guidelines to ensure clean and safe drinking water, increases in some elements in the water can challenge the water treatment plant and  processes. These impacts can range from impacting taste and smell (from increased total dissolved solids) to increased toxicity (e.g.,  selenium), the report adds. The water treatment plant can’t remove metals.
The City’s water treatment plant has a continuous sampling system and  conducts in-house manual validation testing throughout the day to make sure drinking water is safe for users. Independent verification  testing is completed by a third-party lab.
Svenson told the SPC during presentation of the report that Oldman River water is high quality with low traces of selenium.
The report also notes that current technology makes it unfeasible to remove selenium at water treatment plants and that treatment must occur where mining is happening, citing a blog by the Oldman Watershed Council that refers to a 2018 study suggesting that, while capture and treatment of selenium can reduce levels by 90 per cent, the remaining 10 per cent “may still represent a significant amount.”
On Feb. 25, council reaffirmed that it is opposed to all coal development that risks damage to the Oldman watershed by unanimously  supporting an official business motion made by councillor Belinda Crowson..
In a written submission to the SPC, Northback Holdings, the company applying to start coal mining, wrote that it has provided commitments to residents of the Crowsnest Pass which include:
* Waste rock stockpiles will not be placed in the Gold Creek watershed, significantly reducing the risk of selenium release to  protect the Westslope Cutthroat Trout population.
* The project’s selenium management plan will employ a  multiple-line-of-defense strategy and will use proven treatment  technologies from commencement of operations.
* The project will meet applicable environmental regulations, ensuring  that the water remains safe for residents of southern Alberta.
* Selenium concentrations on site are and will continue to be monitored.
* and we will continue air and water quality monitoring and reporting throughout the life of the mine, with operations managed to maintain  air and water quality within limits permitted by the environmental  regulations.
The company also stated it will submit a detailed selenium management plan as part of the Alberta Energy Regulator’s approves process and welcomes community feedback as well as an opportunity for further  community consultation.
It states an Elk Valley Resources mining operation removes between 95  and 99 per cent of selenium from treated water at four treatment facilities.
Another submission from Lorne Fitch details a report made by five retired wildlife biologists to the Alberta Coal Policy committee in 2021.
That report states in part “coal mining operations in mountain and  foothill settings, with steep terrain features are (and will be) subject to repetitive slope, road and settling pond failures, despite the application of engineering solutions. There are a litany of  environmental issues and costs as a result…
“Coal exploration and mining negatively impacts fish and wildlife  populations and native plant communities. The risks to biodiversity  are consistently underestimated, understated and imperfectly assessed.”
The report adds that “mitigation/compensation actions proposed and  undertaken tend to be untested, unproven, unsuitable, theoretical and overly optimistic.”
It also states “coal mines in the Eastern Slopes are shown to produce  significant issues with selenium contamination of receiving waters.  The impacts of selenium on the aquatic environment and fish are not  trivial. Current treatment methods are at best, concepts, not proven technologies and have not been demonstrated to be workable at mine  scales, over lengthy time periods, including beyond the mine life.”
In his own submission, mining opponent and federal Liberal candidate for the Lethbridge riding Chris Spearman provided his own statement, which cites several reports on the issue and his own letter to Premier Danielle Smith as spokesperson for the Water for Food Group.
That letter says in part that the projection for economic development  of a Grassy Mountain mine “ignores the harm we can expect to be  inflicted on the existing integrated agrifood economy of 200,000 people and communities in the Oldman River basin, based on our Alberta
government’s own scientific research studies.”
The letter adds “the Grassy Mountain coal project, coal mining in the proximity of the Eastern slopes and coal mining in the Alberta Rockies  is the wrong decision for Alberta.”
Spearman, who spoke to the SPC, said he still hasn’t received any  answers from the government on his concerns and that people downstream  are disenfranchised, adding a petition opposing the mine generated  7,000 signatures which will be delivered to the Alberta legislature.
“I have no confidence in Northback and neither did the federal/provincial panel,” he said. And even though Northback lost three court decisions, it lobbied the Alberta government for approval.
“We’re about to have our river systems affected,” he stated.
Bev Muendel-Atherstone spoke to the SPC on behalf of Friends of Medicare, saying she wants to protect her friends, fellow citizens and the air and water of southern Alberta. She told the SPC she’s lived in southern Alberta for 47 years and is concerned about the risks of mining.
She noted selenium in water may not only bio accumulate but because of drought and evaporation could become higher. She also noted a health concern is coal dust which would be carried by chinook winds to  southern Alberta and that Alberta asthma levels are the highest in  Canada. Those winds would increase the risk of asthma.
Speaker Maureen Hopkins focused her words on selenium, saying she would assume Northback would do its best to keep selenium out of the drinking water but that accidents happen.
She addressed what selenium does to animals and fish, noting it was first seen in the 1930s causing neurological and muscular symptoms in cattle, notably alkali disease or the “blind staggers,” vision loss, poor feeding and paralysis.
Muendel-Atherstone said people who ingest a little too much selenium may have hair loss, brittle nails, fatigue, nausea and other problems.
Timothy Schwinghamer told the SCP was that the risk of negative environmental impacts from coal mining on the slopes of the Rockies are too great to permit coal extraction and processing to proceed.
Mike Young, a representative of Northback, told the SPC there are three sources of selenium worldwide and he said a point brought up by the City is that treatment must be done at the source.
He talked about Northback’s intention moving forward and went through its written submission.
He said water is treated on site to make sure environmental levels are met.
“We’ve made a commitment publicly that our waste rock will not be  placed in Gold Creek, which is a critical habitat, to reduce the risk  of selenium release there.”
The mine is being designed with multiple lines of defence for  treatment and source control to ensure Northback is not creating soluble selenium in the first place, he added.
Other speakers included Barb Phillips, a founding member of the Lethbridge Seniors for Climate Committee and a member of the Raging  Grannies.

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