Oats and Notes to Stop Proposed Mine

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080628/EDM_coal_080628/20080628/?hub=EdmontonHome

Residents near Tofield raise funds to fight proposed coal mine

Sonia Sunger, Updated: Sat Jun. 28 2008 17:34:47

ctvedmonton.ca

Dozens of residents who oppose a coal gasification project being proposed by Sherritt International and Epcor gathered at an outdoor festival south of Tofield on Saturday to raise awareness and money to fight the project.

“We’re saying no we don’t want this project,” said Bill Sears whose 1,000 acre farm is threatened by the project. “We don’t want to see our yards destroyed, our farms destroyed, our homes destroyed.”

The Sears family has farmed the same plot of land for generations and they say the thought of it turning into an open-pit coal mine is heart-wrenching.

Music Festival Mobilizes Support to Stop Coal Project

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2008/06/29/6018311-sun.html

Sun, June 29, 2008

Sounds of protest
By GLENN KAUTH, SUN MEDIA

An annual Tofield music festival has morphed into a polite show of protest against a controversial coal project.

Owen Forster, a volunteer with the Wild Oats and Notes Music Festival, said the event will celebrate rural living.

“It’s an opportunity for people to come out and see where their food comes from,” said Forster, whose farm is under threat from the coal gasification project proposed by Sherritt International Corp.

Damage spreads

Less than 100 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, me and my neighbours’ farms and homes are being threatened by the proposed Dodds Roundhill coal gasification project.

To provide energy to these upgraders, Sherritt International and their funding partners — the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and Epcor — plan to build one or more coal gasification plants to produce synthetic gas.

The accompanying strip mine would, over its life, occupy 312 square kilometres (31,000 hectares) of prime agricultural land. The proposed plant site and nearly all of the mine is in Premier Ed Stelmach’s riding. Along with these types of development come pipelines, power lines and other infrastructure that interfere with farming practices and have a negative impact on landowners’ quality of life. The energy industry has a huge economic impact in Alberta, but are the long- term costs starting to outweigh the short-term benefits?

J . W. (Bill) Sears, Tofield