Piikani & Stoney Nakoda Nations want appeal of coal mine’s rejection to go ahead

CROWSNEST PASS, AB – A second Alberta First Nation wants the courts to allow it to appeal a review board’s decision that an open-pit coal mine in the Rocky Mountains isn’t in the public interest.

The Stoney Nakoda Nation has filed a request with the Alberta Court of Appeal to appeal the decision, which blocked the development of Benga Mining’s proposed Grassy Mountain project.

The Piikani First Nation filed a similar request last week.

In June, a joint federal-provincial environmental review panel recommended the project not proceed because the threat it posed to southern Alberta’s water supply was too great for the economic benefits it would have created.