OPINION: WILL ALBERTA GOVERNMENT HEED ITS OWN FINDINGS ON FISH POISONED BY COAL MINING?
Another piece of research has just revealed the contamination of trout and mountain whitefish in Crowsnest Lake with selenium, derived from the legacy Tent Mountain coal strip mine ( Fish remain high in selenium long after mountaintop coal mines close, Government of Alberta, 2025).
Scientists from the Government of Alberta have confirmed that “Fish in Crowsnest Lake contain tissue selenium concentrations (five-26 micrograms per gram dry weight) that exceed guidelines and rival fish selenium levels downstream of active MTR [mountaintop removal] operations.” These results are unnerving.
Alberta has an interim fish tissue selenium guideline of four micrograms per gram to protect fish populations from reproductive failures. Apparently, every single fish analyzed from Crowsnest Lake exceeded this value. In addition to the toxicity risks to fish, there are also health concerns for people who consume fish high in selenium. The researchers recommend “consumption advisories for the Crowsnest Lake and Crowsnest River system.”
The source of the selenium has been identified as originating from waste rock dumped over the span of mining on Tent Mountain. What is concerning is that
selenium concentrations in Crowsnest Lake water samples did not exceed the guidelines for protection of aquatic life. Yet, there is significant bioaccumulation of selenium upwards through the food chain. This is also the case with trout in Gold and Blairmore creeks, affected by the legacy Grassy Mountain coal mines.
This may be the case with fish populations downstream of Crowsnest Lake, over the length of the Crowsnest River. It was initially thought that fish-population
declines in the river were related to Whirling disease. What is now speculated is the symptoms of selenium poisoning are so similar to those of Whirling disease,
that the impacts from legacy mining have not been recognized throughout the watershed.
It isn’t good enough to sporadically sample water and assure downstream users there is no water-quality problem because some guideline wasn’t exceeded. Fish
and other aquatic species, parts of the food chain that ultimately include us, need rigorous, repeated sampling to alert us to the dangers.
This is a bitter pill for those opposed to coal mining, since it confirms their worst fears. It should be of concern as well for coal proponents, since it adds measurably and incontrovertibly to the evidence that coal development is not, and will never be benign, even with the assertion from the coal industry and the Alberta government that it can occur with the “highest of environmental standards.”
There is the mythical development Sasquatch — often talked about but never seen — that we can have it all. We can have coal mining and trout, and high water
quality, and clean air, and tourism, and economic development, and when the mining is done the footprint will be magically erased.
This latest research on mining-contaminated fish, when added to the studies on pollution from legacy mines in the Crowsnest Pass, the airborne contaminants
from B.C. mines, and the legacy of issues from coal mining in the McLeod River watershed in Alberta and the Elk River in B.C., represent fable-crushing evidence by objective science that having it all is pervasive and phantasmal. No one should be fooled any longer.
Since contamination of fish flesh by selenium is a human health issue one has to ask: Where is the due diligence of the Government of Alberta? Research does not happen in a vacuum; there are updates, briefings, interim results, and final reports. Presumably, every relevant department and every minister was briefed on the findings from the research on Crowsnest Lake fish based on the implications for health. This information flow probably happened months ago.
So, why has it taken so long for the public to be told of the issues, especially for those who are anglers, eat fish, or are downstream water drinkers? Shouldn’t
there have been a fulsome and rapid response? Where are the public advisories? Where are the “responsible” ministers? Are they cowering with the coal industry
trying to develop some public relations spin?
Yes, research provides us teachable moments to consider in the debate over coal mining. Are we listening?
Lorne Fitch is a professional biologist, a retired fish and wildlife biologist and a past adjunct professor with the University of Calgary. He is the author of Streams
of Consequence and Travels Up the Creek.
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