Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
A spill of surface runoff from a containment pond at Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills oilsands site may have spanned more than a year, the Alberta Energy Regulator has announced. The regulator said that on Oct. 9, the energy company reported an “unplanned release” of around 662 cubic metres from the pond adjacent to Fort Hills into the Athabasca River.
Suncor has reported six million litres of water that exceed sediment guidelines have been released into the Athabasca River from a pond at its Fort Hills oilsands mine. "Suncor took action to stop the discharge system and the release has been stopped," said a note from the Alberta Energy Regulator sent to area First Nations on Monday. The note said the water is from a pond used to settle suspended solids in surface water that runs in from various parts of the site. The water has drained from muskeg, rock and soil overlaying the bitumen, material being stored for reclamation and other areas of the site that are undisturbed by mining.
An Alberta conservation group is raising concerns about the potential for environmental damage from an approved oilsands mining operation on an important wetland in northern Alberta. The Alberta Energy Regulator approved Suncor's plan for work in the McClelland Lake Wetland Complex last year. The project is part of the company's current Fort Hills oilsands operation.
An unknown amount of petrochemicals spilled into the St. Clair River from a refinery in Canada during heavy rainfall Wednesday night. An overflow in Suncor’s Sarnia refinery’s internal sewer system left a sheen on the river that caused officials on both sides of the international border to close off drinking water intakes. But Canadian authorities cleared water plants to return to normal activity Thursday morning.
Activists say Aamjiwnaang is one of many examples in Canada of environmental racism, which is defined as the disproportionate exposure that Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities have to environmental hazards. "I didn't actually hear the term environmental racism until about 15 years ago — it wasn't until I was able to connect with other First Nations people across Canada to see what they were experiencing," said Nahmabin. "Now I realize that absolutely, this applies to here."
