Alberta and its regulator get rough ride at Parliamentary committee for Kearl tailings pond seepage fiasco
Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday
Representatives from First Nations and Métis communities in northeastern Alberta slammed the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the provincial government April 17 when they spoke to the House of Commons all-party Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in Ottawa.
Multiple leaks at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands mine north of Fort McMurray was the reason for the hearing. And the company wasn’t spared criticism, but was also viewed as just the latest example in a system that is not working in Alberta.
“All trust with the Alberta government has been broken. It has been broken for a long time. It is clear that they cannot be trusted to oversee this mess. This mess has been going on since the 1960s,” said Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
Adam, who flew to Ottawa to present in person, called out committee chair Francis Scarpaleggia for saying all presentations were limited to five minutes. Adam threatened to walk out if he wasn’t given the time he needed. He spoke for almost 20 minutes.
In March, the committee made a motion to study the toxic leak of tailings ponds. That leak came to public attention after the AER issued an environmental protection order on Feb. 6. However, it was determined that Imperial had been having issues with containment since May of 2022 and had reported those issues to the AER back then. But Imperial never contacted any of the Indigenous communities downstream about the leaks.
“The Kearl crisis shows these failures on multiple fronts and we fear that Kearl is just the tip of the iceberg. We are bracing for even more catastrophic events unless there are real reforms,” said Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Billie-Joe Tuccaro, who spoke virtually and also spoke uninterrupted past his allotted five minutes.
Lack of communication on the parts of both Imperial and the AER has eroded trust even further, and shows that the AER has put industry before people, said Daniel Stuckless, director for the Fort McKay Métis Nation.
He said federal approvals come with “hundreds of conditions” that must be met, while the AER limits restrictions which it allows the proponent to drive.
“It’s a baked system and nothing changes…It is “cookie cutter” day in, day out…type of approvals,” said Stuckless, who also spoke virtually.
"The regulator is constantly pulling the direction of the conversation in the interests of the regulated parties rather than the public interest," said Timothy Clark, principal of environmental consultancy at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions, which is working with the Fort McMurray Métis Nation.
The only way to address the issue, said Stuckless, was to “scrap it and build it back.”
“How do we build a regulator that is truly independent of the industry that it is regulating and is actually able to discharge the public interest and hold the public confidence?” said Clark.
However, correcting the system went beyond replacing the AER.
“Canada must also shoulder the responsibility of what is happening,” said Adam, who added that Canada was not fulfilling obligations it held under a number of federal Acts, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
“We can point to the lack of enforcement, lack of funding, lack of political will, but these are excuses and not solutions,” said Adam.
He called on the federal government to undertake a comprehensive audit of the structural integrity of tailings and pipeline infrastructure across the entire oilsands region.
Clark, who was in Ottawa, added that the duty to consult has been downgraded from the federal Crown to the provinces to industry, who in turn contract third parties to do that work.
“The psychological effects of feeling like you don’t matter, your voice isn’t heard, that’s a pretty clear indication to me of where the priority on Indigenous rights and Indigenous people rest in this process,” he said.
Both Adam and Tuccaro called for full assessments on the cumulative impact all industry is having on the environment in their region as well as the impact on their Section 35 treaty and inherent rights.
Tuccaro said his people were “asking for certainty” about their health and their ability to practise their traditions and culture.
“Certainty about the way our land will look and function in the future. Certainty that we will be able to continue our way of life on the land, that our rights be protected as promised to us in 1899,” he said.
Scarpaleggia said the questions and concerns raised by the Indigenous representatives will be taken to Imperial Oil when they appear in front of the standing committee on Thursday afternoon.
Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com
Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday
Representatives from First Nations and Métis communities in northeastern Alberta slammed the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the provincial government April 17 when they spoke to the House of Commons all-party Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in Ottawa.
Multiple leaks at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands mine north of Fort McMurray was the reason for the hearing. And the company wasn’t spared criticism, but was also viewed as just the latest example in a system that is not working in Alberta.
“All trust with the Alberta government has been broken. It has been broken for a long time. It is clear that they cannot be trusted to oversee this mess. This mess has been going on since the 1960s,” said Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.
Adam, who flew to Ottawa to present in person, called out committee chair Francis Scarpaleggia for saying all presentations were limited to five minutes. Adam threatened to walk out if he wasn’t given the time he needed. He spoke for almost 20 minutes.
In March, the committee made a motion to study the toxic leak of tailings ponds. That leak came to public attention after the AER issued an environmental protection order on Feb. 6. However, it was determined that Imperial had been having issues with containment since May of 2022 and had reported those issues to the AER back then. But Imperial never contacted any of the Indigenous communities downstream about the leaks.
“The Kearl crisis shows these failures on multiple fronts and we fear that Kearl is just the tip of the iceberg. We are bracing for even more catastrophic events unless there are real reforms,” said Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Billie-Joe Tuccaro, who spoke virtually and also spoke uninterrupted past his allotted five minutes.
Lack of communication on the parts of both Imperial and the AER has eroded trust even further, and shows that the AER has put industry before people, said Daniel Stuckless, director for the Fort McKay Métis Nation.
He said federal approvals come with “hundreds of conditions” that must be met, while the AER limits restrictions which it allows the proponent to drive.
“It’s a baked system and nothing changes…It is “cookie cutter” day in, day out…type of approvals,” said Stuckless, who also spoke virtually.
"The regulator is constantly pulling the direction of the conversation in the interests of the regulated parties rather than the public interest," said Timothy Clark, principal of environmental consultancy at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions, which is working with the Fort McMurray Métis Nation.
The only way to address the issue, said Stuckless, was to “scrap it and build it back.”
“How do we build a regulator that is truly independent of the industry that it is regulating and is actually able to discharge the public interest and hold the public confidence?” said Clark.
However, correcting the system went beyond replacing the AER.
“Canada must also shoulder the responsibility of what is happening,” said Adam, who added that Canada was not fulfilling obligations it held under a number of federal Acts, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
“We can point to the lack of enforcement, lack of funding, lack of political will, but these are excuses and not solutions,” said Adam.
He called on the federal government to undertake a comprehensive audit of the structural integrity of tailings and pipeline infrastructure across the entire oilsands region.
Clark, who was in Ottawa, added that the duty to consult has been downgraded from the federal Crown to the provinces to industry, who in turn contract third parties to do that work.
“The psychological effects of feeling like you don’t matter, your voice isn’t heard, that’s a pretty clear indication to me of where the priority on Indigenous rights and Indigenous people rest in this process,” he said.
Both Adam and Tuccaro called for full assessments on the cumulative impact all industry is having on the environment in their region as well as the impact on their Section 35 treaty and inherent rights.
Tuccaro said his people were “asking for certainty” about their health and their ability to practise their traditions and culture.
“Certainty about the way our land will look and function in the future. Certainty that we will be able to continue our way of life on the land, that our rights be protected as promised to us in 1899,” he said.
Scarpaleggia said the questions and concerns raised by the Indigenous representatives will be taken to Imperial Oil when they appear in front of the standing committee on Thursday afternoon.
Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com
The Canadian Press
Mon, April 17, 2023
OTTAWA — Chiefs of First Nations affected by releases of wastewater from an oilsands mine excoriated Alberta's regulatory system at a House of Commons committee hearing, calling it a system that serves theindustry and not the public.
"The (Alberta Energy Regulator) has zero credibility outside Calgary's echo chamber," Daniel Stuckless of the Fort McKay Métis Nation said in Ottawa on Monday.
"They actively dismiss and downplay impacts of oilsands on communities and their aboriginal and treaty rights."
Chief Alan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation went further outside the committee room.
"The Alberta system, when it comes to the Alberta regulator, is completely broken and should be dismantled," he said.
Ottawa, too, shares culpability by failing to enforce environmental laws, he added.
"While Alberta bears much of the blame, Canada must also shoulder responsibility for what has happened," Adam said.
The comments came as the House of Commons environment and sustainability committee held hearings to examine why it took nine months for First Nations and governments to find out what was happening with both tailings pond seepage and overflow from a containment pond at Imperial Oil's Kearl mine.
But the six First Nations leaders who addressed the committee quickly insisted their concerns go much deeper than a single incident.
"Alberta's reaction throughout is to simply say this is a communications issue," said Adam, who broke down in tears describing what it was like telling his people their water may be contaminated.
"The Alberta Energy Regulator is a joke. A complete joke."
The hearing was struck after two releases of toxic oilsands tailings water from the Kearl mine north of Fort McMurray.
The first release was spotted and reported in May as discoloured water near a tailings pond. It was found to be tailings seepage, but no further updates were provided to area First Nations until February. That's when it was disclosed to the public and federal and provincial environment ministers, along with news of a second release of 5.3 million litres of tailings-contaminated water.
On Monday, leader after leader said the problem is much deeper than a single delayed notification.
"There's a question around the neutrality of the regulator in Alberta," said Russel Noseworthy of the Fort McMurray Métis.
Timothy Clark, who is also working with the Fort McMurray Métis, said the regulator "is more concerned about protecting the image of the industry and the investment than it is about protecting the health and rights of the people who live in this area."
Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation said both Alberta and Ottawa have long ignored community requests for a comprehensive health assessment of people in Fort Chipewyan. Nor have governments acted on calls for an assessment of the cumulative impacts of all oilsands development or for a risk assessment posed by the tailings ponds, Lepine said.
Alberta Environment and the Alberta Energy Regulator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Laurie Pushor, head of the regulator, is scheduled to testify Thursday. Imperial Oil officials are expected next Monday.
Just before the hearings began, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, announced the first step towards an improved reporting process for environmental emergencies.
Guilbeault said the committee testimony should help inform efforts of the new "notification and monitoring working group" to help design a better reporting system for the future.
The group is to be made up of representatives from federal and provincial governments, the Northwest Territories and Indigenous communities affected by the releases.
Jennifer Lash, a senior adviser to Guilbeault, said the goal of the working group is to develop a way to fix the notification process when something goes wrong, as well as to address ongoing concerns about the possibility of seepage from all oilsands tailings ponds, not just from Kearl.
"The notification system completely failed,” said Lash. “It failed for us, it failed for the (Indigenous) Nations, it failed for many people. And then there was no plan ... and everyone was sort of scrambling."
Lash said a letter was sent Monday to invite any Indigenous Nations in the affected areas to participate. She said the government is not being prescriptive about what the new policy would look like. The hope is that the working group will be running within two months.
She said the N.W. T. government has agreed to join and the government of Alberta has responded positively but not fully confirmed participation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.
— With files from Bob Weber in Edmonton
Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
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