Tailings scandal puts polluting corporations in the crosshairs of parliamentarians

Parliamentarians criticized the federal and provincial governments in question on Friday for failing to hold polluting companies accountable in the wake of tailings leaks in northern Alberta.

Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands project leaked toxic effluent into the lands and waters of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) for nine months without notifying downstream communities, all while the corporation continued to lobby the federal government for more subsidies, said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. the House of Commons on March 10.

“Our prisons are overrepresented with indigenous people, which means they are underrepresented with corporate criminals like the CEO of Imperial Oil,” May said. “When will this government stop subsidizing Big Oil and get tough on corporate crime?”

Last week, ACFN boss Allan Adam shout Imperial Oil and the Alberta Energy Regulator for failing to notify the nation of a tar sands tailings leak reported to the regulator last May. For months after Imperial identified the leak from four tailings ponds, community members harvested, fished and hunted on the land, unaware of the situation, Adam said.

ACFN inspected and photographed the remediation area, which was not fenced around it, and three moose within 100 meters of an ongoing leak, according to a March 8 statement from ACFN.

“In Alberta, Aboriginal communities are pushing back against mega-corporations like Imperial Oil that are polluting our land and endangering our health, but liberals are turning a blind eye and the Prime Minister [Danielle] Smith rewards them with billions of dollars,” NDP MP Blake Desjarlais said in question period on Friday.

Last week, May and Desjarlais joined Chief Adam in characterizing the situation as environmental racism. Toxic waste created by oil companies in the Alberta tar sands is stored in tailings ponds, though May says the term “ponds” is misleading because more than 1.4 billion liters tailings fluid stretches over an area 2.6 times the size of Vancouver.

“To delay justice is to deny justice,” Desjarlais told the House, asking when the federal government would take indigenous rights seriously and close environmental loopholes.

In response, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said it is “appalling” that the Alberta government knew about the leak at the Imperial Oil site for months and that neither the company nor the regulator informed the indigenous people they depend on. of those lands and waters.

“We have to do better, and we will,” Hajdu said.

@ElizabethMay and @DesJarlaisBlake on Friday criticized the federal and provincial governments in question for failing to hold polluting companies accountable for tailings leaks in northern Alberta. #Tailings Ponds #ImperialOil #Kearl

Earlier this week, Alberta’s premier suggested it was a communication problem, saying the leaks have not affected drinking water. This was similar to Imperial Oil’s response to Adam and the ACFN, which lamented that the “company’s communications did not meet the expectations of the ACFN community” and pledged to improve communications.

“This is much more than just a communication problem,” Adam said in a statement issued on March 8. “This is an environmental catastrophe that AER and Imperial Oil tried to cover up and now the PM and the Minister are trying to play down… Right now, all we get from the PM is a twist and a clog from Imperial.”

On March 8, ACFN said that Imperial has officially denied the nation’s request for monitors to access the site.

On June 3, 2022, Imperial Oil informed the AER that the wastewater had entered a body of water with fish, which the regulator should have noted as a violation of the Fisheries Law, the ACFN statement says.

On March 9, Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told reporters in Ottawa that it is “very concerning” that the AER has not notified Environment Canada or indigenous nations for more than half a year. Such events are supposed to be reported to the federal government within 24 hours, he said.

“There is an active investigation by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s enforcement branch… When they have concluded the investigation, it will be communicated publicly,” Guilbeault said.

This week, he spoke with the leaders of ACFN and Mikisew Cree First Nation and pledged to “work with them to find solutions, permanent solutions.”

The Northwest Territories have said Alberta violated the terms of their bilateral agreement, which requires either party to inform the other about anything that affects water quality. The territory has initiated the agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism.

— With archives from The Canadian Press

Natasha Bulowski / Local Journalism Initiative / National Observer of Canada


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