On Monday, representatives of Indigenous communities
assailed Alberta's tailings regulation in testimony to the
parliamentary committee.
(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Sonali Paul)
By Nia Williams
April 20 (Reuters) - Imperial Oil's chief
executive apologised to Canadian lawmakers on Thursday for toxic
tailings leaks at its Kearl oil sands mine and conceded the
company had been "negligent" in not sharing information with
nearby First Nations communities.
CEO Brad Corson, grilled for two hours by a parliamentary
committee in Ottawa, said Imperial had notified Indigenous
communities when discoloured water was spotted pooling near the
Kearl site last May.
However the company failed to speak directly with the chiefs
or update communities when testing showed the water contained
tailings, he said.
"I am deeply saddened and apologetic that we did not fulfill
the moral obligations that we have with these very important
indigenous communities," Corson told lawmakers.
"It's horrible that we have shattered the trust with them
and we want to do everything we can to rebuild it."
The months-long seepage, which Imperial is still working to
contain, only came to light in February when a second spill of
5,300 cubic metres of water from another pond prompted the
Alberta Energy Regulator to issue the company with an
environmental protection order.
Corson said Imperial did not notify communities when it
first learned the seepage contained tailings because the company
was still gathering data and wanted to have a definitive plan.
But Laila Goodridge, a Conservative member of parliament
(MP) for Fort McMurray-Cold Lake, the oil sands region,
interrupted Corson when he said the vacuum of information had
created "uncertainty" in local communities.
"It didn't just create uncertainty. It created fear,"
Goodridge said. "The fear was real. It was palpable."
Tailings are a waste byproduct of mining containing sands,
water, residual bitumen and dissolved metals. Roughly 30 ponds,
holding around 1.35 billion cubic metres of tailings, surround
Canada's oil sands mines.
Federal Environment Ministry officials have said the seepage
contains levels of chemicals that would be harmful to fish.
Imperial said its testing indicates no impact to drinking water
or wildlife.
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