Abstract:

The Whitewood mine was a sub-bituminous coal mine that operated from 1962 to 2010. Final mine reclamation was completed in 2013 and has been in a state of care, maintenance, and monitoring since. In 2024, TransAlta applied for the final 536 hectares of reclamation certificates outstanding of the total 1,900 hectares of disturbance. The mine reclamation is a mixture of farmlands and wildlands intended to reflect the Parkland County region. The final reclamation certificates focus on wildlands and end pit lakes; much of this land is being donated to the Alberta Conservation Agency so that it may build upon the East Pit Lake recreation area and create a conservation corridor that will span more than 2,000 acres (800 ha) that will be open to the public for passive recreation.

Much of the wildlands were reclaimed without Topsoil due to the age of the mine and various reclamation approaches were taken including: using coarse wood debris along freshly contoured slopes, converting haul roads into county roads for public road access, utilizing city compost to assist in reclaiming old haul roads, converting the remaining open pits into end pit lakes, and utilizing the Federal Eco gift program to ensure that the donated lands remain as conservation areas in perpetuity.

This presentation will go through the learnings and history of the mine, the impacts of mining pre-conservation and reclamation regulations, final mine closure, care and maintenance issues encountered, results and observations of the wildlands (including end pit lakes and prospectives for future stocking), stakeholder engagement through the reclamation process, and land transfers to future landowners on final reclamation certification.

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Mr. Rick Wallace