Environmental Appeals Board releases verdict regarding badlands racetrack water management
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Alberta Environmental Appeals Board and Minister of Environment and Protected Areas have handed down their decision in the matter of Approval No. 00406489-00-00.
This, being the case regarding the water management plan for the Badlands Racetrack Development.
Nine appeals had been filed regarding the Water Act Approval No. 00406489-00-00, which had been issued Jan. 8, 2020, and was appurtenant to the filling in of three wetlands, modification of three wetlands, and construction, operation, and maintenance of a stormwater management system for surface water runoff to the Rosebud River and wetlands on Section 22-27-21-W4M.
This section of land is proposed for development of the Badlands Racetrack project. The appellants consisted of local residents who maintained concerns that the water management plan would have adverse impacts on the river, local wildlife, and the surrounding environment.
The appellants were granted standing, as one of whom resided on land the Environmental Appeals Board had previously found as potentially impacted by the proposed stormwater management system, and because an appellant claimed their economic interests were directly affected by activities authorized by the approval.
In the Notice of Appeal, it was requested that the approval be stayed, that the approval be reversed in its entirety or that the approval be varied to reflect Alberta’s statutory framework, and access be granted to the affected wetlands for additional reporting.
Dissent to the Badlands Racetrack Development and its associated projects has been expressed by residents of Wheatland and Kneehill Counties since its inception.
The proposed $400 million Badlands Motorsport Resort project would occupy 172 acres within Kneehill County, along the Red Deer River watershed with frontage along the Rosebud River. Site boundaries also include those of Wheatland County on the west and south sides.
Rebecca Schulz, currently the sitting minister of environment and protected areas, ordered several variances to Approval No. 00406489-00-00, many of which detail requirements to survey, monitor, and report on impacts to the affected wetlands.
Further, the variances also included directions requiring a Wetland Avoidance Report, detailing why designated regions could not be avoided and alternative build designs may not be viable prior to the authorization of any disturbances to those areas.
This also includes the requirement of a field survey to determine whether prairie falcon nests are present in the southwest corner of the proposed project site.
The complete report by the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board, as well as the ministerial orders were publicly released in a 215-page document on April 15.