A proposed extension of an Elk Valley coal mine is getting further scrutiny from the federal government.
According to a ruling from the federal Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, the Fording River coal mine north of Elkford requires further study due to the risks posed to water, wildlife and Indigenous rights.
Wildsight, a local conservation organization, commended the decision in a news release.
“We are relieved to see the federal government recognize what experts and communities have been saying for years: this expansion carries unacceptable risks to the health of rivers, fish, and downstream communities,” says Simon Wiebe, Mining Policy & Impacts Lead at Wildsight.
Specific concerns noted by the IAAC included evidence that the mine’s expansion could cause further harm to fish and fish habitat, impacts to migratory birds, additional pollution of regional and international waterways, adverse changes to health, social, economic and environmental conditions of Indigenous peoples, as well as interference with Indigenous constitutional rights.
“This decision confirms that the concerns of the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation and other Indigenous governments must be taken seriously,” Wiebe says. “Federal oversight in this permitting process is necessary if we want industry to be held accountable for its pollution. The BC government is too invested in these mines to make a responsible decision.”
Wildsight is calling for a transparent review that includes meaningful public input, rigorous science, and enforceable conditions tied to real-world improvements in water quality.
“This expansion would mean destroying even more mountain habitat for threatened bighorn sheep and grizzly bears, while also increasing waste rock piles that will leach pollutants for decades, if not centuries,” Wiebe says. “A strong federal impact assessment is the only responsible path forward.”
Earlier in October, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) ruled that the project could proceed to an Environmental Assessment, following the “Readiness Decision” phase that the project has been since 2021.
The decision to move to an Environmental Assessment concluded that “the objectives of the Readiness Decision phase to ensure sufficient engagement and information, and identification of issues that must be addressed in an EA have been met.”
Further, the EAO noted a revised Detailed Project Description (DPD) stemming from a 2023 EAO decision to seek additional consultation and information had been met, and that changes to the project’s scope have “reduced uncertainty about being able to mitigate potential effects to levels below extraordinarily adverse effects.”
According to the revised DPD submitted in August 2025, changes from the initial submission four years ago include a reduced project footprint and pit shell, a reduction in coal volume and mine life to 34 years, and water treatment and management updates.
Wildsight says the metallurgical coal mines in the area are responsible for one of the world’s worst selenium contamination issues.
Selenium is an element that is necessary for life in small amounts, but in larger concentrations quickly bioaccumulates in aquatic ecosystems, leading to major reproductive failure in fish like the threatened westslope cutthroat trout.
In the Elk Valley, it leaches out of massive piles of mine waste and into adjacent waterways, such as the Kootenay/Kootenai River, which flows from B.C. and Canada into the northwest United States, particularly through Montana and Idaho.
Currently, the International Joint Commission is investigating the issue of transboundary water pollution in the Kootenay watershed through a process that involves provincial, federal, state and First Nations government representatives.