(Ottawa) More than three decades after Indigenous leaders in northern Alberta called for funding to determine whether oil sands pollution was making their people sick, the federal government has announced it will fund a study to that effect.
“This should have been done 32 years ago, maybe 40 years ago,” said Billy-Joe Tuccaro, chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. “We know there’s something going on in this community. We can’t pinpoint it or anything to what’s actually going on.”
Studies have previously shown higher rates of cancer in communities along the shores of Lake Athabasca. The lake is fed by the Athabasca River, which runs through the region where most of Canada’s oil sands mines are located. In 2009, an Alberta Health study identified a potential problem and said further investigation was needed to narrow down the cause.
Other studies have found dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury and hydrocarbons in the area’s water, as well as in fish, sediment and surrounding wildlife.
PHOTO JEFF MCINTOSH, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Athabasca River
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault visited the region this week. He was given a tour of their lands by leaders from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation and Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation and shared some of their concerns.
Guilbeault said during a virtual news conference Tuesday evening that the study, funded to the tune of $12 million over a decade, will track potential contaminants from oil sands operations to better understand the long-term impacts on health and the environment.
“I heard loud and clear that community members need to know what the impacts of living downstream from the oil sands mean for them,” he said.
Incident reported
“I’ve heard stories of health problems, very high cancer rates, concerns about contaminants in the water, and since the Kearl mine, those concerns have been exacerbated.”
Guilbeault referred to a news story 18 months ago that tailings ponds at the Kearl oilsands mine near Fort McMurray, Alta., had been leaking into groundwater for months. The ponds contain toxic chemicals including mercury, benzene and arsenic. That news only came after another leak was discovered in a containment pond at Kearl, though the company says most of that leak was caught before it could cause damage.
Documents later filed by Imperial showed that the seepage from the tailings ponds was anticipated in their design and had been documented for years.
In a written statement Wednesday, Imperial spokeswoman Christine Randall said the company supports and will participate in the study “to improve understanding and build trust in our communities about our industry.”
“Imperial regrets the incidents that occurred at its Kearl oil sands facility in 2023,” Mr.me Randall: The mitigation measures in place are working and all monitoring data continues to demonstrate that there are no indications of negative impacts to local wildlife or fish populations in nearby river systems, and that there is no risk to drinking water for local communities.
In an update released Wednesday, the company said it has taken further steps to control seepage at the Kearl site, including more stringent monitoring north of the mine boundary. Kearl said it has detected shallow groundwater above control guidelines 150 metres from the boundary, and deeper groundwater about a kilometre to the north. Information has been shared with communities, the company said.
Since February 2023, the company has tripled the number of pumping and monitoring wells to combat infiltration, with more than 800 monitoring wells now in service.
Reconciliation effort
Kendrick Cardinal, president of the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation, said Tuesday that funding for the new study “speaks volumes” about the federal government’s commitment to reconciliation.
“It’s important that we hold industry accountable for what’s happening in our community,” Cardinal said. “They’ve created a different lifestyle here. Things have changed dramatically.”
Cardinal said that given the way nature works, it will be 10 years before the true impact of the Kearl spill is known. And he added that the study was necessary because the Kearl incident was just one of many events.
“So just to keep that in mind, we can’t keep pointing the finger at one component,” he added. “There are multiple engines running here and there are engines that were running well before Imperial came along. Until we actually figure out what’s causing it, only then will we be able to fix those issues. But until then, this is a step forward.”
Better regulation
While the 10-year study period is long, Guilbeault said work is already underway to better regulate oil sands discharges and a Crown-Indigenous working group is studying what to do with existing tailings ponds.
“I have stated publicly on several occasions that there could be no new permits for the problems related to the settling ponds until we have found solutions to the existing settling ponds,” recalled Minister Guilbeault.
As for what would happen if the study found that the oil sands were having an impact on community health, the government should do more.
Mr. Guilbeault said he hopes the province and businesses will then work with the federal government “to put in place even stricter measures from an environmental and health perspective.”
“I think that would be the only reasonable course of action,” he insisted.