Submission to the Alberta Coal Policy Committee - Alberta Medical Association

The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is concerned about potential adverse physical and mental health issues that may occur if proposed open pit coal mines in Alberta are developed. As such, the AMA is opposed to the development of open pit coal mining without due and detailed consideration of such adverse health effects, planning for an increased need for physical and mental health resources and a detailed health assessment analysis.

Recommendations:

"We urge a full, detailed, independent review of the potential for increased open pit coal mining to cause adverse health consequences with a public release prior to any further approval of open pit coal mining. The review should include sensitivity analyses for mining disasters and worst-case scenarios which occur in mining with some frequency including mine bankruptcies with failure to clean up mining sites. Sensitivity analyses should include potential adverse health scenarios observed in other mining communities (e.g., Southeastern United States) where mining causality to the adverse health issues have not yet been ruled out (the benefit of doubt should be in favor of the communities’ health) as well as for adverse health effects where causality is firmly established (e.g. selenium toxicity). The analyses should assess the need for enhanced health care resources in the region of the mining and also include adverse health consequences in other jurisdictions adversely affected by the mining (e.g., the proposed mining sites could affect the water supply for major populations in western Canada)."