In the past year, Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and Imperial Oil failed to report ongoing tailing leaks from their Kearl mine site.
“The system we have in place is failing—the communities weren’t notified before February of the seepage that was taking place since May of 2022. Environment and Climate Change Canada [wasn’t] notified either until February,” said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a press conference on March 21.
As it currently stands in Canada, energy industries are responsible to alert provincial energy regulators on any industry-related crises. In practice, provincial energy regulators report these incidents to the federal government once they are alerted of an issue, such as an oil or tailing pond spill—this did not happen with the Kearl mine tailing ponds leak.
Tailings are a mixture of water, sand, clay and residual bitumen and are a by-product of the oil sands mining process.
“As I’ve said over the past few weeks, I’m very concerned about the reporting gaps. The seepage was not communicated to affected communities in a timely or appropriate way by the company or provincial regulator,” said Minister Guilbeault. “This demonstrates that the system did not work in this case and needs to be examined and strengthened.”
Minister Guilbeault added that the current system needs to change, proposing a federal-provincial-Indigenous working group with cooperation from oil and gas companies. The working group would address immediate concerns over industry incidents, such as tailing pond leaks, to ensure accurate reporting and improved notifications on ongoing spills or seepages. It would also discuss remediation and containment plans.
Environment Climate Change Canada’s enforcement officers are currently monitoring the site, taking samples and performing testing on the site. A directive was also issued to Imperial Oil to “take immediate action to prevent any leakage of chemicals into waters frequented by fish.”
“They’re devastated and their communities are devastated. They’re afraid that their water is contaminated,” said Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hadju during the press conference. “They have no trust or faith that the testing results are accurate given the fact that both the communities and leaders have both been misled over the number of months that they haven’t had information from either the Alberta Government or Imperial Oil.”
In the meantime, Indigenous Service Canada will be delivering potable water to affected communities near Fort Chipewyan.
Minister Hadju added that in talks with Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (AFCN) and Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro of Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN), they are concerned about the long-term sustainability of their way of life.
The parliamentary committee has also passed a motion for Imperial Oil and AER to testify at a committee—dates have yet to be announced. Guilbeault also stated that the enforcement branch of Environment and Climate Change Canada is investigating Imperial Oil’s actions. At this time, he is unable to provide further details on the investigation.
Mikisew Cree First Nation request immediate action from federal government
On March 18, MCFN Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau which called for immediate action from the federal government. The letter outlined requests including collaboration on immediate requests such as providing clean drinking water and timely information on the ongoing situation at the Kearl mine site, funding for a Fort Chipewyan health study, a federal-Indigenous audit on tailing risks in the region, and action on reclamation and solutions to tailing ponds.
“As a downstream community, our people fear their drinking water. They have grave concerns about their physical, mental and social health—made worse by the decades of inaction on health impacts we are experiencing, like the rare cancer clusters in Fort Chipewyan that may be linked to oil sands,” read the letter from Chief Tuccaro.
Tailing ponds have been known to have health risks for years. Back in 2006, whistleblower, Dr. John O’Connor sounded the alarm on increased cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, Alta. Both rare and common cancer rates were 30 per cent higher for people in Fort Chipewyan.
“We don’t know if we can safely harvest traditional foods. Relationships with our lands and waters—essential to our Mikisew Cree way of life—are seriously harmed,” said Chief Tuccaro.
Historically in Canada, treaty rights have been continuously infringed by oil and gas companies such as Imperial Oil. Indigenous ways of life have been threatened by ongoing activity of oil and gas companies—from tailing leaks to oil pipeline construction, these infringements on Indigenous rights are rampant across Canada. MCFN Chief Tuccaro is asking for more action from the federal government.
“We appreciate the work that the federal government is doing to understand and halt the crisis at Kearl and to bring water to our community. But our way of life depends on Canada doing more,” said Chief Tuccaro. “If you put yourself in our shoes and imagine a life with these risks, we are confident you will agree.”
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation representatives visit Imperial Kearl mine spill site
Although the federal government is monitoring the situation, ACFN is pursuing their own independent investigations.
Most recently, ACFN representatives visited Imperial’s Kearl mine’s spill site—what they witnessed confirmed their concerns of the environmental and wildlife impact from the ongoing tailing leaks. A press release from ACFN on March 21 stated, “what we found was worse than what anyone anticipated.”
ACFN representatives found uncontained toxic waters remaining on the ground near streams and ponds, no barriers in place between seepage and water bodies, and animal tracks leading into the contaminated spill area.
Despite ACFN’s observations, Imperial Oil maintain their position that there is no environmental impact to waterways or wildlife. Imperial’s updates also noted that they placed additional fencing to prevent wildlife from crossing the seepage area. The messaging on the tailing leak impact is repeated by the Alberta Government and AER—they remain resolute that there is no impact on environment, wildlife, water bodies, or potable water. This is a different account of what ACFN reprsentatives witnessed.
The ACFN statement also stated that the visit showed that the Alberta Government and the AER are not being truthful in the extent of environmental damage to the Athabasca watershed and surrounding ecosystems.
“We won’t stop until we have a full accounting of this catastrophe,” said ACFN Chief Allan Adam in the press release. “We are not going away.”
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
