{"id":4031,"date":"2023-03-04T14:19:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T14:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/?p=4031"},"modified":"2023-03-04T14:19:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T14:19:27","slug":"canada-environment-minister-deeply-concerned-about-imperial-oil-tailings-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roydadnaft.ir\/English\/4031\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada environment minister ‘deeply concerned’ about Imperial Oil tailings leak"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Canada’s environment minister on Friday said he was “deeply concerned” about a leak of toxic tailings water from Imperial Oil’s\u00a0(IMO.TO)\u00a0Kearl oil sands mine in northern Alberta that has been going on for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal environment minister Steven Guilbeault’s comments came a day after the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, a local Indigenous community downstream from the Kearl site, accused Imperial and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) of failing to protect the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial wastewater containing toxins including arsenic and dissolved iron\u00a0has been seeping from tailings ponds\u00a0at the 240,000 barrel-per-day Kearl oil sands site since at least May last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early February, Imperial reported a separate leak of more than 5,000 cubic metres of tailings water from one of its holding ponds, prompting the AER to issue an environmental protection order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said they were not informed about the leaks until after the spill last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We need to see a clear remediation plan from the company and to better understand the apparent failures of communication for the notification of this spill,” Guilbeault said in a statement, adding his first thoughts were for the health and well-being of affected Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guilbeault said federal enforcement officers will carry out an independent assessment to determine next steps under Canada’s Fisheries Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has advised people not to eat any wild meat harvested downstream of the Kearl site after May 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Adam said they were concerned Imperial may not have adequate procedures or infrastructure to contain its tailings and called for a full investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This does not appear to be a simple accident, but a systemic failure of Imperial’s tailing ponds,” he said in a statement. “Both Imperial and the AER failed to give notice or take action to keep the public and Indigenous communities safe.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calgary-based Imperial, which is majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corp\u00a0(XOM.N), said the issues seem to be related to gaps within the seepage interception system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie Long, Imperial’s vice-president of oil sands mining, said the AER recently approved a series of plans to implement additional measures ahead of spring snowmelt, and the company is putting in place additional monitoring and pumping wells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imperial will also take steps to improve its communications with Indigenous communities, Long said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was always our intent to share our findings when we had more definitively determined the cause and planned actions,” he added.<\/p>\n

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