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There are arguments for coal mines, and there are arguments against them. But that’s not the real question Alberta faces with the (twice) proposed, foreign-owned Grassy Mountain coal mine project in the Crowsnest Pass.

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The real question is whether it makes sense to knowingly introduce a long-term selenium contamination risk into the headwaters of a watershed that supports communities, agriculture, ecosystems, and treaty rights across Alberta — especially when the same project, in substance, has already failed the public-interest test once before.

Water is not a “local issue.” That’s a comforting phrase we use when we want to contain consequences geographically. But rivers with headwaters in the Crowsnest Pass like the Bow, Oldman, Red Deer, and (South and North) Saskatchewan flow into everything downstream that depends on them: municipal drinking water, irrigation, fisheries, recreation, and the broader health of southern Alberta and beyond. As droughts and climate volatility intensify, our rivers become even more central to resilience.

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Coal mining on the eastern slopes is uniquely risky because of the terrain and hydrology. The Rockies are steep, erosion-prone, and water-connected. What happens in the headwaters doesn’t stay........

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