Unpublished Newswire

A series of e-mails between the head of the Alberta Energy Regulator, a coal-mining company and the Energy Minister’s office about a mine application has raised questions about the independence of the province’s energy watchdog. At the heart of the e-mails is the application for an underground mine for steelmaking coal near Grande Cache, about 430 kilometres west of Edmonton. The project is Mine 14 by Summit Coal Inc., a subsidiary of Valory Resources Inc. The e-mails were uncovered by a freedom of information request by two environmental groups and shared with The Globe and Mail.