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.
Documents filed by Imperial Oil Ltd. show the company and Alberta's energy regulator knew the Kearl oilsands mine was seeping tailings into groundwater years before a pool of contaminated fluid was reported on the surface, alarming area First Nations and triggering three investigations. "They knew there was seepage to groundwater," said Mandy Olsgard, an environmental toxicologist who has consulted for area First Nations.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has warned Imperial Oil about more wastewater problems at its Kearl oilsands mine in northern Alberta. The regulator has issued a notice of non-compliance to the company after chemicals associated with oilsands tailings were found at an off-site well at levels that exceed provincial guidelines.
The company is also seeking approval to store tailings in open pits that are no longer being used. The company says this would lower the ecological footprint since right now it removes water from tailings and stores the dry tailings at a tailings storage facility and then stores waste rock at a waste rock storage facility. "Storing tailings and waste rock in exhausted pits would reduce freshwater use and re-use spaces instead of impacting new ones," the company proposal says.
Current global unrest and ongoing impacts from the pandemic have brought the security of supply of energy and resource products into sharp focus, not just for Canadians but our allies around the world. This priority was reinforced at the highest political levels with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland saying in a recent speech that “Canada must — and will — show similar generosity in fast-tracking, for example, the energy and mining projects our allies need to heat their homes and to manufacture electric vehicles.” There is no doubt that Canada and its allies need stability when it comes to ensuring demand for mined products is met, and this extends to our oilsands mining sector.
The Nova Scotia government has not notified some landowners of potential contamination on their properties from historical gold mines, despite being required to do so by provincial regulations. Gold mines that operated in Nova Scotia dating back to the 1800s left a legacy of contamination, most notably from arsenic and mercury. In many cases, the original source of the contamination is on one property, but the material flowed — often through water — to surrounding properties over time.
