A volunteer organization working to preserve an agricultural way of life in the Round Hill - Dodds area.
The History of the Round Hill Dodds Agriculture Protection Association
The Round Hill-Dodds Agriculture Protective Association (RHDAPA) was incorporated on November 12, 1974, in response to a proposal by Calgary Power to build a coal-fired electrical generating plant and Fording Coal to strip mine coal to provide fuel to the plant. A group of local farmers got together and formed RHDAPA to pool their resources and expertise, and to give a unified voice of opposition to the individuals in the project area.
During the following few years, the proposal to build the plant and mine coal in the area proceeded through successive stages of the regulatory process. In the final stages of the process, the Calgary Power and Fording Coal proposal was withdrawn, and the project did not proceed. There is no doubt that the efforts of the RHDAPA contributed to the abandonment of this project, and the project proponents undertaking development of coal mining / generating projects at other locations in Western Canada.
We regarded the abandonment of the coal mining / generating project as a victory at the time, but deep inside we knew that the holders of the rights to the coal resource would eventually be back to realize its value in an ever increasing energy-hungry economy.
That feared eventuality has materialized, in the form of Sherritt International Inc, and EPCOR putting forth a proposal to mine the coal, and process the coal to extract hydrocarbon components to blend with and amend heavy oil extracted from the tar sands, as well as provide electricity to the grid.
Again, we are mobilizing every available resource to oppose a project which would drastically and irreversibly change the agricultural way of life established by our pioneering ancestors, and carried on through successive generations.