Grassland advocates say potash mine would damage habitat

A conservation group is urging CanPacific to move a proposed solution potash mine northeast of Sedley to a less ecologically sensitive spot.

The development is called Project Albany, a 3.25-million-tonne-per-year solution potash mine on a 50,000-hectare lease.

If it goes ahead as is, Public Pastures Public Interest (PPPI) says more than 6,000 hectares of grassland, wetlands and wildlife habitat would be damaged.

According to the group, 86 per cent of native prairie habitat has already been lost and the group is asking the Ministry of Environment’s environmental assessment branch to protect what remains.

“There’s 13 species of conservation concern on these landscapes and they won’t be there if the mine project goes ahead and develops all those quarter-sections of land and puts the roads through and pipelines and puts the well pads there,” PPPI spokesperson Trevor Herriot said.

“Over time, those species will just fade away and that particular remnant won’t be able to support wildlife there.”

CanPacific issued a response to the group on its website this month, saying, “CanPacific seeks to avoid and minimize biodiversity loss and land disturbance. Our approach is consistent with the mitigation practices of avoidance, minimization, restoration and offsets where appropriate.”

The company’s statement also says the plant, well pads and pipelines will avoid Wascana Creek as well as pastureland and grassland.

PPPI is set on holding the company to that.

“What we’re trying to do is to ensure that they really do make every possible effort to minimize the impact and fragmentation on those small remnants of native grasslands,” Herriot said.

However, he stressed that the preference is to avoid sensitive areas rather than try and fix them later.

“Avoidance is far better than mitigation or reclamation or some kind of biodiversity offset where they purchase other landscape in lieu,” Herriot said.

“A hundred per cent of landscapes that you avoid are protected so we want to urge avoidance at all costs.”