Editor:<\/p>\n
I write this letter in response to two letters to the editor (“Participation in process does not necesarrily mean consent” and “Telkwa coal mine is an unnecessary risk as steel industry shifts,” The Interior News, April 14, 2022).<\/p>\n
In relation to the letter from Charlotte Euverman, I confirm that the Project Assessment Agreement is nothing more than what it suggests, an agreement with the Wet’suwet’en that they will participate in a process to review the Environmental Assessment Certificate Application (EA Application) that was submitted to the BC Environmental Assessment Office in February 2022.<\/p>\n
We fully recognize and appreciate that. <\/p>\n
Wet’suwet’en participation is not an indication of Wet’suwet’en support or consent, rather an opportunity for continued dialogue, feedback and input that will be provided as a part of the review process.<\/p>\n
LETTER: Participation in process does not necesarrily mean consent<\/strong><\/p>\n In relation to the letter from Jay Gilden, I would like to clarify two important points. <\/p>\n The BC Environmental Assessment Act is a robust process for the assessment of environmental impacts not only from mining, but for a wide variety of activities that may have an impact on the environment during and after that activity is ended.<\/p>\n Our EA Application is subject to this review process in addition to an independent review by the Wet’suwet’en under the terms of the Project Assessment Agreement.<\/p>\n Our parent company, Allegiance Coal Limited, is mandated by its shareholders to invest in steelmaking coal projects to support the production of blast furnace steel: every tonne of blast furnace steel requires 0.77 tonnes of steelmaking coal. <\/p>\n The applications of steel, including in the renewable energy and long term battery storage sectors, are well known and need reliable and affordable supply of steel.<\/p>\n In 2020, global steel production reached 1.878 billion tonnes of which 73.2 per cent came from a blast furnace and 26.3 per cent from an electric arc furnace (recycled scrap metal).<\/p>\n LETTER: Telkwa coal mine is an unnecessary risk as steel industry shifts<\/strong><\/p>\n Decarbonization of the steel industry is a priorty for not only governments worldwide, but the steel industry itself. <\/p>\n While decarbonization has made good advances in the sector, particularly in Europe (which represents less than 10 per cent of global steel production), it is a long journey to replace all or a material part of blast furnace steel supply with new technologies and for this reason we believe blast furnace steel will remain the dominant supplier for many decades to come.<\/p>\n In an environment where supply is weak, we remain committed to filling strong steel industry demand for steelmaking coal, and in turn creating last benefits for communities like those in and around the Tenas project as well as our two operating mines in Colorado and Alabama.<\/p>\n Mark Grey<\/p>\n Chairman and CEO<\/p>\n Telkwa Coal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CEO acknowledges participation is not consent; says mettalurgical coal will be in demand long-term<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":83384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n