Imperial Oil Toxic Leak: Historic & Ongoing Harm to Indigenous Communities in Northern Alberta
The Imperial Oil company came under fire this past spring when it was revealed in a report by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) that the Kearl Oil Sands catchment pond, filled with arsenic and heavy metals, had leaked 5.3 million liters of waste into the surrounding ecosystem and water supply. It was then discovered that over a period of nine months, tailings had been continuously leaking into the environment, effectively poisoning waterways and ecosystems nearby.
While this leak is undoubtedly devastating for the nearby environment, the main concern lies with the downstream Indigenous communities who rely on the environment to sustain their lives. Mikisew Cree First Nation and Fort Chippewyan had been unknowingly consuming game and water poisoned by the leaking Tailings Ponds for nearly a year. Indigenous families, Elders, and children were put at serious risk by the Imperial Oil Company and Alberta Energy Regulator who failed to inform the communities about the leak for nine entire months.
The effects of consuming water and animals contaminated by Tailings made up of arsenic and heavy metals for an extended period of time is grossly under researched, so the repercussions for Mikisew First Nation and Fort Chippewyan consuming such can only be guessed. However, taking a look at the higher levels of rare cancer diagnoses and respiratory illnesses already present in the community, higher than anywhere else in the country, one can assume the effects will be detrimental.
To further add insult to injury, the AER released an official report this month that absolved Imperial Oil Ltd. of any fault for the leak, claiming the company did not breach any regulatory policies or procedures. Not only did the report fail to mention calls to action from Indigenous and environmental groups calling for swift legal action against Imperial Oil Ltd., but they also stated that minimal recourse is required in the face of the Kearl Oil Sands leak.
This is just one of many incidents highlighting the disproportionate effects of the Alberta Oil Sands on Indigenous communities, expected to increase dramatically with the growth of the Tailings Ponds footprint alone - which saw a 300% increase in the last two decades. Tailings Ponds are manufactured reservoirs of toxic byproducts from the oil extraction process and take up an area roughly 2.3 the size of Vancouver within Northern Alberta. These Tailings Ponds have grown unabated over the past three decades despite concern from local Indigenous communities and scientists alike - both worried about the deadly impact of this extractive industry.
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is supposed to act as a mediator between both groups and ensure companies such as Imperial Oil are abiding by the strict regulations surrounding the oil and gas industry and their sites, yet they played a role in covering up the leakage. From this failure alone on the part of Imperial Oil and AER, there will be a generational impact on local Indigenous communities that can’t yet be estimated.
Not only are the Kearl Oil Sands and Tailings Ponds a major threat to local biodiversity and Indigenous communities, but their very existence speaks to the total disregard for the rights and concerns of the very Indigenous livelihoods they threaten. The Tar Sands expansion has happened without the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Indigenous Nations who are now the epicenter of the toxic impact of these sites.
The History of the Tar Sands, Tailings Ponds, and their Expansion on Treaty Land
The Oil Sands (often referred to as the Tar Sands) in Alberta not only spell imminent environmental disaster for the area but also directly violate the Treaty signed between the Indigenous groups in the area and the Crown (Federal Government). Under Treaty 8, where the Oil Sands are located, it is specified that in exchange for ‘surrendering the land’, local Indigenous groups would continue their protected right to hunt, fish, and trap in the area and that the Crown must consult the Indigenous People before land development. This did not happen as the first Tar Sand was built in 1967 without the consent of the First Peoples living there.
Since then, the Tar Sands have continued to grow exponentially without the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC, a.k.a. the bare minimum) of the Indigenous Peoples of Treaty 8. A trend that the Government of so-called Canada has yet to take accountability for. As a result, not only have the local Indigenous communities’ hunting and trapping routes been disrupted, but their health is also seriously threatened by these Tar Sands and Tailings Ponds.
Outlined by three different Supreme Court cases (one of which involves Mikisew Cree First Nation, the same community directly affected by the latest Kearl Tar Sands leak), it has been proven that the only reason that Tar Sands exists is because of the Federal and Provincial Government’s complete disregard for Indigenous Peoples and their rights and safety. Yet, the Federal Government and oil companies continue to deny and undermine any efforts by the local First Nations Communities attempting to hold them accountable.
Instead, in response to the outcry from local First Nations communities, the Federal Government developed a protocol that largely ignored the conditions of the original Treaty. Although they consulted First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, the end result was a protocol that allowed the Government to proceed without the consent of the local Indigenous communities as long as they ‘consulted’ them beforehand. It’s not very hard to guess that little to no consultation has occurred since this protocol was placed.
Oil companies and the Canadian Federal Government now have free reign in the development of Treaty Land. Their new protocol has allowed the continued growth of the Oil Sands despite continued pushback from Indigenous communities.
The Community Impact of the Tar Sands
Before the development of Tar Sands and Tailings Ponds, the shores of the Athabasca River were traditional hunting, trapping, and fishing grounds for the surrounding Cree, Dene, Chipewyan, Dunne-Za, and Métis people. Community members alive today remember when the first crop of Oil Mines popped up without the consent of their community. Now, just a few short decades later, their ancestral home is surrounded by large, toxic lakes that leak poison into their communities.
Jean LHommecourt, Keepers of the Water co-chair and Denesuline woman who lives just outside of Fort McKay has expressed concern over the moose meat in her freezer that had fed her and her family. This outlines how precarious this situation is regarding the health and safety of nearby Indigenous communities such as Fort Chipewyan and Mikisew Cree First Nation. Many residents refuse to drink or even bathe in the contaminated water after the latest Kearl Oil Sand disaster.
These concerns may seem overzealous, but they are, in fact, justified. A study done in 2009 confirmed the fears of Dr. John O’Connor, who expressed concern about the rapidly rising cases of rare cancers and respiratory illnesses within the Indigenous population in the area. Despite backing up his claims with evidence gathered from his years of service in these communities, he was met with backlash from government health organizations and eventually ‘relieved’ of his duties.
Not only do Mikisew and Fort Chippewyan have to worry about their physical health, but their spiritual and mental health have also been adversely affected by the Oil Sands. Families that rely on hunting to supplement their groceries now worry about whether the game and plants they eat contain toxic heavy metals. Traditional practices such as medicine gathering are now called into question because the water these plants rely on to grow has also been poisoned. The community impacts from Tar Sands and Tailings Ponds are substantial and run deeper than just the violation of Treaty agreements.
And still, the federal and provincial governments continue to disregard the very real concerns of the same communities they claim to ‘consult’ regarding the Oil Sands.
The Environmental Impact of the Tar Sands
Through examination of the Oil Sands and Tailings Ponds, it is clear that oil extraction and sustainability cannot mutually exist. Not only do Oil Mines forever change the environment they’re built, they also cause major disruptions to the habitat and routes of animals in the area. Studying the process of oil extraction, this alone requires nearly 6 gallons of freshwater consumed per gallon of gasoline. The math is simple—this is not sustainable.
In 2014, Mikisew First Nation requested an outside investigation concerning the deterioration of Wood Buffalo National Park, the largest National Park in Canada. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee found that the National Park was threatened by the nearby Oil and Gas mining and called on Canada to investigate the systemic impact of the Oil Sands mining properly. UNESCO also noted that the Wood Buffalo National Park’s deterioration is attributed to the lack of engagement with the Indigenous and Métis people who live in the area and hold traditional ecological knowledge.
In response to the concerns of both the scientific and Indigenous communities regarding the Oil Sands, many of the oil companies have come up with what they deem ‘solutions’ to the significant environmental cost of this extractive industry. One popular solution is water treatment for the gallons of freshwater consumed daily in the processing of Oil and Gas with the intention of releasing the treated water back into the environment. Another solution is the ‘reclamation protocol’ where the site of oil mines and Tailings Ponds would be reclaimed and returned to their near-original state pre-mining.
However, science contradicts the possibility of reclamation as oil production is proven to negatively impact water quality by causing disruptions to the hydrology of water systems and leaking toxic chemicals into nearby water sources. This means there is currently no viable way to treat water and land used by the Oil Industry to return it to its near-original state, making reclamation impossible.
Considering that extensive research would need to have been done in order for these ‘environmentally conscious’ solutions to be introduced in the first place, it raises the question if oil companies had to have known how unfeasible they were. Not to mention, only a laughably small percentage (0.1%) of Oil Sands actually receive reclamation accreditation from the AER. It’s clear that these ‘solutions’ were only put forward to appease public concerns and ensure that oil companies could continue their development with complete disregard for the environmental cost and impact of their mining operations.
The Future Impact of the Tar Sands
The Federal Government aims to do even worse than the Reclamation Protocol now that they’re considering releasing minimally treated Tailings (full of toxic heavy metals) into the Athabasca River. The widespread and devastating effect of which is unimaginable. The Federal Government even considering something like this has sparked backlash from surrounding Indigenous communities and the global scientific community.
The impact of pouring Tailing into the Athabasca watershed would be devastating for the environment and community. Especially knowing the Athabasca River feeds into one of the largest freshwater deltas in the world, connecting numerous lakes, marshes, rivers, and wetlands. Poisoning this complex ecosystem that many Indigenous communities rely on violates not only their Indigenous Treaty rights but also their human rights.
Although it seems far-fetched that a Federal Government would so blatantly disregard the health and safety of an entire province (yes, poisoning the Athabasca River delta would affect Alberta as a whole), it’s a real and dangerous reality. If the AER, a government-adjacent corporation, overlooks a massive nine-month-long leak that risks the health of nearby Indigenous communities, then it’s safe to assume the Federal Government has no qualms about further infringing on the rights and safety of our people.
What Needs to Happen Now
ICA stands in solidarity with the affected communities and demands that Imperial Oil and the AER take accountability for hiding and minimizing the Kearl Oil Sands disaster. Some key demands, outlined in the letter sent to Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Danielle, are as follows:
Imperial Oil and other tar sand operators should be charged when tailings ponds leak under the federal Fisheries Act and relevant sections of Alberta’s Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. Reparations are long overdue for the harm caused by Big Oil in these territories.
The Alberta Energy Regulator needs to be replaced by an independent regulatory system in which the decision-making authority is granted to the impacted Indigenous nations.
Funding must be provided for all efforts requested by Indigenous communities to address concerns with harm from the Tar Sands, including but not limited to an Indigenous-led study investigating the occurrence of rare cancers in communities downstream of the tar sands.
Call to action for the replacement of AER - Providing the funding for Indigenous-led investigation of health effects, and every other effort to address the harm from the Tar Sands - Imperial Oil needs to be charged.
Six months ago, Imperial Oil and the Alberta Energy Regulator appeared in front of the ENVI committee to answer questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) about the Imperial Kearl Mine Tailing ponds disaster. Both were invited to appear again yesterday, October 19th, but refused to do so.
The importance of this committee hearing and the severity of the leak that occurred should have been more than enough to persuade both Imperial and the AER to make time for the hearing. This further illustrates a distinct and blatant lack of accountability for oil companies like Imperial Oil who continue to overlook the gravity of the toxic repercussions of their unsustainable extractive industry. Failing to take action (needed over a decade ago) has now led to radical and inefficient solutions like the suggestion to dump wastewater into the Athabasca River.
Action needs to be taken by the Federal Government, Imperial Oil, and the AER now to avoid ecological devastation and endemic health issues in local Indigenous communities.
Contributor
Britney Supernault (she/they), known as the Cree Nomad, is Otipemisiwak Nehiyaw (Métis Cree) from East Prairie Metis Settlement. An artist, activist, and writer, Britney has spent the last 4 years writing on various topics, from traveling and productivity to contemporary Indigenous Issues and Climate Change. They write full-time and also has a social media platform where they share their life as a writer. Britney is currently working on their debut novel, soon to be released, and an Indigenous graphic novel series.
