B.C. coal mine without access to rail told to stop trucking
VANCOUVER — A mining company in northeast B.C. has received a provincial enforcement order to stop moving coal by truck instead of rail, a violation of its environmental certificate.
The problem is that there is not currently an active rail line to Tumbler Ridge.
Environmental Assessment Office documents show that a public complaint prompted an investigation into the transport of coal by Conuma Coal Resources Ltd. from its Wolverine coal mine, near Tumbler Ridge.
The company’s environmental certificate stipulates that “coal from the Wolverine Mine be transported by rail from the loadout facility adjacent to the Wolverine Mine site.”
Conuma had been hauling 50 to 100 truckloads of coal daily from the Wolverine mine site to the Willow Creek loadout facility for at least four months.
The trucks travelled north on Highway 29 to Chetwynd and then west on Highway 97 to the Willow Creek Forest Service Road — a distance of approximately 150 kilometres, the documents state.
The enforcement order requires the company to cease hauling coal by truck from the site and to not resume hauling coal unless it is by rail.
Tumbler Ridge Mayor Don McPherson said in an interview Friday that the problem is that the CN Rail spur line to Tumbler Ridge is not currently in service.
“The line hasn’t been kept up, with the downturn [in coal mining]. They just quit the maintenance on it. I put all the blame on this on CN. That’s our lifeline for this town. If it’s not working, you might as well shut the town down and move it.”
McPherson said he sympathizes with Conuma’s predicament, even though its trucks have been “really pounding the pavement” out of the road.
He added: “It’s a real sad story for Tumbler Ridge. We’re just starting to get back on our feet and now we have this to deal with.”
Conuma president Mark Bartkoski could not be reached to comment.
CN spokesperson Kate Fenske said CN reached an agreement with the coal company this year and has been working on the line since May, with the hope of opening the track in September.