Ottawa seeks better reporting on environmental emergencies after Kearl oilsands leak

Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeau has taken the first step towards improving the environmental emergency reporting process following a wastewater leak from an oil sands mine in Alberta that has been undisclosed for nine months.

Imperial Oil and the Alberta Energy Regulator had to notify the federal government of seepage from tailings ponds at the company’s Karl mine after first noticing it last May.

But that didn’t happen until February, when an additional 5.3 million liters of wastewater was released.

Indigenous peoples in the area who hunt and fish in the affected lands and waterways are outraged that they have not been informed.

Several heads and representatives of the affected First Nations and Métis communities attended a House committee on Monday to discuss the situation.

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First Nation concerned about leak at Kearl oil sands site in northern Alberta

Guilbeault said their testimony should help inform the work of a new “notification and monitoring working group” he’s creating Monday to help design better reporting systems for the future. Is called.

The group will consist of representatives from federal and state governments, the Northwest Territories, and indigenous communities affected by the liberation.