Canada’s environment minister ‘deeply concerned’ about Imperial Oil waste leak | – #Canadas #environment #minister #deeply #concerned #Imperial #Oil #waste #leak
March 3 (Reuters) – Canada’s environment minister said on Friday he was “deeply concerned” by the months-long leak of toxic wastewater from Imperial Oil’s ( IMO.TO ) Kearl oil sands mine in northern Alberta.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s comments came a day after the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, an indigenous community downstream from the Kearl site, accused Imperial and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) of failing to protect the public.
Industrial wastewater containing toxins including arsenic and dissolved iron has been leaking 240,000 barrels per day from tailings ponds at the Kearl oil sands field since at least May of last year.
In early February, Imperial reported a separate leak of more than 5,000 cubic meters of wastewater from one of its reservoirs, prompting the AER to issue an environmental order.
Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said they had not been notified of the leaks since the leak last month.
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“We need to see a clear recovery plan from the company and a better understanding of the apparent communication failures for notification of this spill,” Guilbeault said in a statement, adding that his first thoughts were for the health and well-being of the affected local population. communities.
Guilbeault, federal execution said its officials would conduct an independent assessment to determine next steps under Canada’s Fisheries Act.
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has advised people not to eat wild meat harvested downstream of the Kearl site after May 2022.
Chief Adam said they were concerned Imperial may not have adequate procedures or infrastructure to store its waste and called for a full investigation.
“This appears to be a systemic failure of Imperial’s waste wells, not a simple accident,” he said. “Both Imperial and AER failed to warn or take action to keep the public and local communities safe.”
Calgary-based Imperial, which is owned by Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ), said the problems were linked to gaps in its leak prevention system.
Jamie Long, Imperial’s vice president of oil sands mining, said AER recently in the spring snow has approved a number of plans to take additional measures ahead of the meltdown, and the company is commissioning additional monitoring and pumping wells.
Imperial will also take steps to improve its relationships with local communities, Long said.
“We always intended to share our findings once we had determined the cause more clearly and taken the planned actions,” he said.
Reporting by Nia Williams; Edited by David Gregorio
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-03-04 03:48:24
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”