Gwyn Frayne, Comox Valley Record, August 26, 2010

Dear editor,

I am writing on behalf of the Comox Valley Chapter of the Council of Canadians.

We wish to voice our concerns against the Raven Coal Mine.

We think it would be extremely harmful to our water, our air quality, our marine industry, our roads and the health of our population for years to come. Therefore, we advocate for the following three points:

1. That federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice refer the environmental assessment of Compliance Coal Corporation’s proposed Raven Underground Coal Project to a joint federal/provincial independent expert review panel for full public hearings;

2. That provincial environment Minister Barry Penner ensure that the environmental assessment of the project is carried out by the same joint federal-provincial independent expert review panel conducting full public hearings; and

3. That before any further consideration is given to the proposed project, comprehensive aquifer mapping and modelling of the entire Ravel coal tenure be completed — and fully publicly vetted.

The 3,100-hectare Raven tenure includes all or significant portions of the watersheds of Cowie/Cougar Smith Creek, Tsable River, Wilfred (Coal) Creek, and Hindoo Creek, which flow into Baynes Sound.

It is essential that the hydrology and dynamics of these surface water systems and their interactions with groundwater be understood.

We fully support the research and submissions made by the CoalWatch Comox Valley group.

Gwyn Frayne,
Courtenay

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