"We are responding to the direction that was provided by ECCC officials following their visit to Imperial's Kearl site last week and we have installed surface water pumps in the area to prevent the seep from entering a fish-bearing waterbody. Imperial is complying, said company spokesperson Lisa Schmidt in an email. Federal environment minister condemns delayed reporting of oilsands tailings leak.Alberta premier says Imperial Oil should have disclosed tailings pond spills.
The government of the Northwest Territories said it should also have been informed, given a bilateral agreement it has with Alberta over the shared watershed.Īllen said government directions are tools used by the federal minister when there is an unauthorized release of a harmful substance into water frequented by fish or when there is a "serious and imminent danger of such an incident and immediate action is necessary." "Imperial and the governments must contain tar sands' toxic leaks." "Identify the causes of Imperial's tailings breaches and find a resolution immediately," he wrote. Arthur Noskey, Grand Chief of the Treaty 8 First Nations, added his voice over the weekend. The realization that nine months had passed between the discovery of the original release and the public announcement drew widespread anger from First Nations, who harvest from land near the site. Oilsands tailings leak exposes gaps in how Alberta, Ottawa oversee industry, experts sayįederal officials have said Alberta is required to notify it of such leaks within 24 hours.Alberta First Nation angry at Imperial's silence while tailings pond leaked for 9 months.7 in an environmental protection order from the regulator, after another release of 5.3 million litres of tailings from a catchment pond at the site. Seepage from the Kearl site about 70 kilometres from Fort McMurray, Alta., was first noticed in May, but neither Imperial nor the Alberta Energy Regulator kept local First Nations or provincial and federal environment officials briefed. The direction requires immediate action to contain the seep and prevent it from entering a fish-bearing waterbody." "On March 10, 2023, enforcement officers issued a Fisheries Act direction to Imperial Oil. "Based on information enforcement officers have to date, the seep is believed to be deleterious, or harmful, to fish," Environment Canada spokesperson Nicole Allen said in a statement. Federal inspectors have ruled a release of oilsands wastewater from Imperial Oil Ltd.'s Kearl mine is harmful to wildlife and have ordered the company to take immediate action to stop seepage from a tailings pond.
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