Coal company wins $142.8-million from Alberta government over policy flip-flop

Globe and Mail

a day ago

A coal company that was suing Alberta as part of a $16-billion lawsuit has reached a $142.8-million settlement over the government's flip-flop on coal policy.
Atrum Coal Ltd. has agreed to drop its lawsuit and surrender its coal leases back to the government in exchange for the cash, according to a notice on the company's website.
The province paid Atrum $136.8-million earlier this month, but will retain $6-million of the full settlement amount until reclamation works on the site are complete.
Atrum said in the notice it would distribute the proceeds of the settlement to its shareholders, minus obligations such as taxes, director compensation, legal fees and amounts needed to cover reclamation works. Details of those amounts and timelines will be released at a later date.
The company is one of two that have reached settlements with the province.
The other is Evolve Power Ltd. (formerly Montem Resources Ltd.), though it has not yet posted details on its deal with the province.
The Alberta government has not yet answered questions from The Globe and Mail about the Atrum settlement.
Alberta regulator approves controversial coal exploration applications at Grassy Mountain
At the heart of the lawsuits was a series of changes made to provincial coal policy by the United Conservative Party government.
In 2020, it nixed land protection rules that dated back to 1976, prompting a furious public backlash that forced the government to reverse its decision the following year.
The government then cancelled leases earmarked for potential new mines and declared an indefinite moratorium on coal exploration.
In January this year, the Alberta government scrapped the series of ministerial orders that banned coal development in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, returning to an older policy that in part relies on land categories to govern where mines are built.
Companies that had already spent millions developing mine plans moved to recoup some of those costs by suing the province. The result was two lawsuits: one filed in 2023, the other in 2024.
The first suit was a joint case involving four separate submissions to Alberta's Court of King's Bench by Evolve, Atrum and its subsidiary Elan Coal Ltd., Cabin Ridge Project Ltd. and Black Eagle Mining Corp. All were pursuing mines for metallurgical coal, which is used for making steel.
The other suit was filed in June, 2024, by Northback Holdings Corp. It argued that the joint federal-provincial review of its proposed Grassy Mountain mine in the Crowsnest Pass was flawed and that dozens of provincial officials acted in bad faith when they 'consistently assured Northback that the Grassy Mountain Project would be subject to a fair and transparent regulatory process.'