Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

process water

Nearly 6 million litres of water from oilsands sediment pond released into Athabasca River

Nearly 6 million litres of water from oilsands sediment pond released into 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.

Husky Oil fined for contaminated water release into Saskatchewan river

Husky Oil fined for contaminated water release into Saskatchewan river

Husky Oil has been fined $600,000 for releasing a harmful substance into a river in Saskatchewan. The Calgary-based oil and gas producer pleaded guilty Friday in provincial court to depositing the substance into a waterway full of fish. The charge came after the release almost four years ago of about 2.8 million litres of process water, a byproduct of oil and gas production and typically high in salt content.

New technique could help decontaminate oilsands process water

New technique could help decontaminate oilsands process water

New technology developed by engineers at the University of Alberta shows potential in cleaning and decontaminating process water from oilsands production. The process relies on ozonation and biofilters to remove organic compounds from contaminated water. The study, published in Science of the Total Environment, demonstrates that the method, previously used to clean pharmaceutical waste water, efficiently removes naphthenic acids, considered to be one of the main contaminants in oilsands process water.

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