Alberta’s energy regulator has a plate-full of problems, from a leaking tailings pond to another full of dead animals.
Laurie Pushor, the president and CEO of the Alberta Energy Regulator, was called to explain why it took nine months to tell First Nations and the federal and provincial governments that wastewater from a tailings pond was seeping into the environment.
Pushor testified before a parliamentary committee in Ottawa on Monday, reports CBC News Canada, apologizing for how the agency handled an oilsands tailings pond leak at an Imperial Oil mine that wasn’t publicly disclosed for nine months.
In May 2022, Imperial Oil notified Alberta’s energy regulator it had discovered discolored water near its Kearl oil sands project. However, the company failed to notify the federal government and nearby Indigenous communities.
In February, when Pushor was preparing to issue an environmental protection order to Imperial for the leak, there was another leak, in which 5.3 million liters of tailings water escaped from an overflowing catchment pond. This time, the community was informed two days later.
“It is clear that neither Imperial nor the AER met community expectations to ensure they are fully aware of what is, and what was happening. And for that I am truly sorry,” Pushor said.
Pushor repeatedly refused to answer questions about when the Alberta government was told about the leak, claiming his answers would jeopardize a third-party investigation launched by the regulator.
The AER is investigating Imperial’s conduct throughout the incident, while the AER’s board of directors has launched an independent review of the regulator’s internal process.
Tailings, a waste product of mining, are a toxic mixture of sand, clay, residual bitumen, and water containing naphthenic acids and metals, according to Reuters.
Suncor tailings pond deaths
In the meantime, while the energy regulator was investigating Imperial Oil, Suncor notified the regulator late Friday afternoon that a few dozen birds were found at a tailings pond at Suncor’s Base Mine Site about 29 kilometers (18 miles) north of Fort McMurray.
The company says the discovery was made during an oilsands bird-contact monitoring program survey, according to Canadian Occupational Safety.
The energy regulator began investigating “immediately” and by the end of the weekend, the animal death toll had climbed to 43 birds, two muskrats, one bat, and one vole.
The AER issued a statement on its website saying an inspector is on-site “to gather and review information, gain situational awareness, and assess the existing mitigations and hazing systems in the area. The inspector will ensure mitigation strategies are in place and actioned appropriately by Suncor.”
Suncor spokesperson, Erin Rees, sent an email to the Canadian Press saying, “At the time of discovery, all bird deterrent systems at Base Plant were active. Our Bird Deterrent Program includes canons, radar, and effigies. We have initiated an investigation.”
Apparently, cannons and other deterrents don’t work that well. In January 2019, Syncrude was fined more than $2.7 million after pleading guilty to environmental charges in the deaths of 31 great blue herons at one of its oilsands mines north of Fort McMurray in 2015, according to CTV News Edmonton.
Syncrude was also fined $3 million in 2010 after more than 1,600 ducks died when they landed on a tailings pond in 2008.
