Coal report on Albertans’ views to be delayed one month, says panel chairman
EDMONTON — A report detailing how Albertans feel about open-pit coal mining in the Rockies will be delayed by a month, says the head of the committee preparing the document.
Ron Wallace said the report, the first of two his panel is expected to generate, will now be delivered to Energy Minister Sonya Savage by Nov. 15. That’s the same due date as the second report, which is to contain recommendations on coal development.
“It was because of the overwhelming response and the need to accommodate that response with extra time that we had to approach the minister with the request for an extension,” Wallace said in an interview Tuesday.
The extension comes as American researchers conclude that North America now has so many steelmaking coal proposals in the works that some mines may not meet profit forecasts, raising the danger they might be closed early.