Alberta failed to notify the federal government that toxic water from the Kearl oil sands project was seeping for months into the environment and that a drainage pond breach at the site spilled 5.3 million litres of water, Environment and Climate Change Canada says.
ECCC spokesperson Gabrielle Lamontagne told The Globe in an e-mail that regulations that govern how provinces and territories report environmental emergencies are part of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the Fisheries Act. Imperial Oil told The Globe and Mail Wednesday that its initial notifications of the seepage issue “were made in accordance with regulatory requirements under applicable legislation for incident reporting requirements.”
However, both the oil company and regulator have acknowledged that the affected area is in proximity to a fish-bearing waterbody and tributaries that feed the Firebag and Muskeg Rivers. And on Sept. 2, 2022, the AER issued a non-compliance notice to Imperial Oil for releasing industrial wastewater into the watershed surrounding Kearl.
Mr. Guilbeault said he is talking with various federal departments “to see how, on our end, we can do better.” He has also spoken with two Indigenous communities downstream from Kearl, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation.The chiefs from both communities told The Globe on Wednesday that the situation at Kearl and the fact they were kept in the dark until after the February spill have broken their trust in the company and the AER.