This past week BCPS wrote to elected officials and representatives as well as Premier Smith asking that the proposed Bill 28 be rescinded. Here is the BCPS letter to Premier Smith.
The Honourable Danielle Smith,
Premier of Alberta,
May 8, 2026.
Dear Premier Smith,
As a long-time Calgarian, I expect you have had the opportunity to visit and experience the wonders of Big Hill Springs Provincial Park. Our 74-acre park is home to Canada’s fourth ranked mineral thermal spring and tufa formations. Its diverse landscape and ecology are enjoyed by more than 250,000 visitors each year.
The attached map shows existing and proposed gravel mines encircling the Park. Three of these mines are in operation. If all others proceed, combined, they will result in excavations up to one hundred feet deep covering almost two thousand acres. Science says these mines pose deleterious levels of selenium and chromium at the Big Hill Spring, which created and sustains the Park and Bighill Creek. With this water pollution plus fugitive dust and noise, there is no doubt these mines will harm the ecology and the visitor experience of Bighill Springs Provincial Park.
After years of public consultation and deliberation, Rocky View County recently adopted aggregate resource planning and approvals policies which balance our need for gravel against the costs that poorly located mines with ineffective oversight would impose on citizens and the environment.
Your government’s proposed Bill 28 will negate Rocky View County’s land use planning, mine operating standards and monitoring which are necessary to protect valuable assets like Bighill Springs Provincial Park. Provincial government authorities and processes are ill-equipped to replace the municipality’s historic role. Evidence indicates gravel companies are already planning to use Bill 28 to circumvent Rocky View County’s planning and approvals.
Premier Smith, we need you to fully consider the irreparable damage Bill 28 may inflict. Please take steps to protect the ecology and vital ecosystems of our nationally significant park. Rescinding Bill 28 will allow Rocky View Council and other municipal councils to continue to fulfill their mandates for planning and land use which optimise value of our urban and rural communities.
Formed in 2015, Bighill Creek Preservation Society is a group of local residents whose mission is “To ensure the natural and historical values of Bighill Creek Watershed are preserved for this and future generations.”
Sincerely,
Gerry Bietz, President
Bighill Creek Preservation Society
www.bighillcreek.ca
Map – Lands Controlled for Gravel Mining – Big Hill Springs
