From the Comox Valley to Port Alberni, local citizens are standing up against dirty coal mining in their community. Join with the people of these communities and say “No” to the proposed Raven Coal Mine.

Located in the Comox Valley on the east side of Vancouver Island, the proposed underground Raven Coal Mine would extract 44 million tonnes of coal, the worst fossil fuel in terms of carbon emissions over a 16-year period, over a 16-year period.

If that dirty coal were to be exported and burned this coal will add over 80 million tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. To put that in perspective, everyone in Victoria and Nanaimo would need to drive hummers all the way around the world at the same time to release the same amount of carbon dioxide.

At the same time, the mine will have significant local environmental impacts. This mine proposal threatens sensitive salmon habitat, the world famous Fanny Bay shellfish industry, and local air and water quality.

Most of the drinking water used by the residents of Fanny Bay comes from subterranean aquifers located near Cowie Creek – one of the creeks threatened by heavy metal leakage. Over 9,000,000 tonnes of waste rock will be dumped into the Cowie Creek Watershed. Heavy metal leakage and acid rock drainage from this waste rock is a very serious and long-term problem. When waste rock is exposed to the air sulphides turn into sulphuric acid. When this substance gets into water it can have a devastating consequences on wildlife.

Cowie Creek feeds into the nutrient rich waters of the Baynes Sound – an area ideally suited for growing shellfish. Any contamination to the tributaries that run into Baynes Sound will have a negative impact on the Baynes Sound watershed as a whole, threatening aquatic life and putting the important Baynes Sound aquaculture industry at risk. This industry employees over 600 people and produces 39% of the oysters and 55% of the manila clams in British Columbia. Their jobs could be wiped out by this project, which is one of the reasons this is project is the first project opposed by the BC Shellfish Growers Association.

Then there are the traffic impacts. Over 54,000 Giant B-Train coal trucks will traverse the dangerous Port Alberni highway a year. This road curves over the steep road by Cameron Lake, and through the extremely busy Cathedral Grove parking lot. The trucks will roll by senior citizens homes and the Port Alberni hospital before coming to rest a mere 50 meters from a residential area where the coal will be stored. Coal dust is highly volatile, and there are risks of fires and explosions associated with having coal storage facilities.

The Raven Coal Mine is just the tip of the iceberg for coal mining on Vancouver Island. The company, Compliance Energy has plans for two large open-pit mines near Cumberland and Anderson Lake. If this project is allowed to go ahead it will open the Mid-Island to a scale of industrial mining we haven’t seen since the Dunsmuir days.

Dirty coal has no place in a climate friendly future. Clean air, clean water and healthy communities are more important than a dirty coal mine. Let's send a message Stephen Harper and Compliance Energy can't ignore. Stand with us to say no to the Raven Coal Mine.

For more infromation and a map of the projects impacts check out The Top Ten Reasons to be Concerned abouth the Raven Coal Mine.

Please remember to take action today and send a letter to the BC and Canadian Government to tell them you oppose the proposed Raven Underground Coal Project, and new coal mines in BC.