By Peabody Energy, Inc. (Provided by Peabody Energy) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.The Murray River Mining Project near Tumbler Ridge in northeast B.C. will be the first new Canadian coal mine required to cap carbon emissions. The federal government’s Dec. 13 approval of the project is contingent on the mine limiting methane emissions to the equivalent of 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
The underground mine will extract metallurgical coal, or coking coal, which is used to produce steel. HD Mining International will operate the facility.
In announcing the approval, the Government of Canada said the conditions were an environmentally-friendly approach to growing the economy. Tumbler Ridge Mayor Don McPherson is also hopeful that the project will bring new jobs to the area after two other mines were shut down there in 2014 and 2015.
“Tumbler Ridge was built to service two mines, so when the mines aren’t working there isn’t much to do,” he said.
The Murray River mine generated controversy in 2012 when B.C. unions challenged HD Mining’s use of temporary foreign workers from China, however. The company said the move was necessary because of the lack of Canadians with the required training and skills.
Read the full article at CBC News.