Top Alberta Court allows appeal of coal miner's exploration applications

Grassy Mountain, peak to left, and the Grassy Mountain Coal Project are seen north of Blairmore, Alta., Thursday, June 6, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Alberta's top court is allowing a southwestern ranching community to appeal applications for coal exploration permits.

The Alberta Court of Appeal says it will hear arguments from the Municipal District of Ranchland that the province's energy regulator shouldn't have accepted applications for Grassy Mountain.

Australian-owned Northback Holdings is trying to develop a coal mine at the site in the Crowsnest Pass area of southwestern Alberta and has filed three applications for exploration permits.

Ranchland filed the appeal after Energy Minister Brian Jean wrote the Alberta Energy Regulator suggesting those applications be accepted and exempt from an earlier order banning coal development in the Rocky Mountains.

Jean told the regulator the project should be considered an advanced project, even though it had been denied by environmental review panels.

But Justice Kevin Feth says it's arguable that a project that's been turned down no longer exists and can't be called advanced.

He also says Jean's letter may have wrongly restricted the regulator's ability to consider the issue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2024.