Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
As you said, my name is Wyatt Petryshen. I'm currently the science policy adviser for Wildsight, a volunteer position that I've held since the fall of this year, and this precedes my role as Wildsight's planning, policy and impacts researcher.
Before beginning, I do want to thank the committee for accommodating my ability to appear virtually from New Haven, Connecticut.
Within the Elk Valley of southeastern British Columbia, coal mining has occurred for over 100 years. Initially operating as underground mines, in the later part of the 20th century, these mines have transitioned into the large mountaintop-removal coal mines we see today. They have become a major supplier of high-grade steel-making coal to Asia-Pacific countries. Overshadowing the expansion of mountaintop-removal coal mines in the Elk Valley, with current production estimates between 26.5 million and 28.7 million short tons of coal annually, has been the worsening water quality that threatens other aspects of the economy, ways of life and watershed security.
From 1985 to 2022, selenium concentrations have increased by 443%, nitrates by 697% and sulfates by 129% in the Elk River at Highway 93. This is at a federal-provincial monitoring station located approximately 74 kilometres downstream from the nearest coal mines. Selenium is known to cause reproductive failure in fish, which can lead to the collapse of freshwater ecosystems. Contamination released from these mines has become a chronic problem, as exceedances occur frequently to British Columbia's water quality guidelines for the protection of aquatic health and for drinking water.
Through the almost three decades of known selenium contamination leaching into the watershed, numerous task forces and panels have failed to take meaningful action to solve the problem, which has occurred alongside the worsening water quality and coal mine expansion. The Auditor General of British Columbia's May 2016 report, entitled “An Audit of Compliance and Enforcement of the Mining Sector”, provides a succinct summary of this history.
We are currently at a crossroads in the management of water resources in Canada. We acknowledge the critical importance of clean water both for society and within ecosystems, but we've typically followed a path that maintains the status quo that is endangering these resources in the first place.
Wildsight has been actively engaged with the federal government on the creation of the proposed coal mining effluent regulations, which we believe is a positive step in helping to remedy the contamination crisis unfolding in the Elk Valley. However, these regulations have not yet been released. Furthermore, action by the Province of British Columbia under Ministerial Order No. M113, requiring Teck Resources to stabilize and reduce contamination entering the watershed, has been an abject failure, amplifying the ineffectiveness of provincial and federal fines to force the mines into compliance. The sale of Teck Resources coal mining business to Glencore may likely worsen the situation.
To remedy these concerns, Wildsight is recommending to this committee that the implementation of co-governance frameworks is one of the best tools that can be collectively deployed to address the ongoing mismanagement of water resources in both the Elk Valley and beyond. Co-governance frameworks would enable decision-making to be shared across all levels of government, local communities, and first nations, encompassing entire ecological systems and thereby providing the structure required for effective management, monitoring and prioritization of local objectives that rely on direct community involvement, but also inclusion of the nation-state to supplement capacity and provide the tools required to address multi-faceted issues.
Furthermore, watershed-scale co-governance is the only framework whereby diverse value systems can be brought together to support pluralistic decision-making. Traditionally, resource extraction has superseded other values in the Elk Valley, but under a co-governance framework, decisions can be made to support a diverse set of stakeholder values, like watershed security, ecological intactness and sustainable development, which in the past have been marginalized.
Actionable items by the Canadian government include the immediate formation of indigenous-led watershed boards for watersheds along transboundary regions and the development of similar co-government structures elsewhere in Canada.
Furthermore, the federal government needs to move to finalize the proposed coal mining effluent regulations and ensure that federal agencies undertake strict enforcement action for industries that are in non-compliance with Canada's existing laws that protect water resources and aquatic health.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I'll be happy to answer any questions.