ACFN chief slams $50K penalty against Imperial Oil for Kearl seepages

Tailings samples are tested during a tour of Imperial's oil sands research centre in Calgary on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (Jeff McIntosh)

The chief of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) says the $50,000 fine the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has levied against Imperial Oil for allowing wastewater to leak from its Kearl mine into the Athabasca River is insufficient to deter future leakages.

Given the fact that Imperial made $1.1 billion in income in the second quarter of 2024 alone, it would have taken them just 35 seconds to make the $50,000 the AER fined them, ACFN Chief Allan Adam told Alberta Native News.

"That was already just a small bucket in the magnitude of what’s going on here," said Chief Adam. "We can’t allow this to happen anymore."

In May 2022, Imperial informed the AER that pools of discoloured water had surfaced near the edge of its Kearl mine.

ACFN and nearby Mikisew Cree Nation were informed, but received no update until February 2023, when 5.3 million litres of contaminated wastewater were released from a holding pond.

Adam is far from alone in his criticism of the AER’s penalty against Imperial.

Alienor Rougeot, climate and energy program manager for Environmental Defence Canada, called the fine "a toothless slap on the wrist."

In addition to the fine, the AER ordered Imperial to implement a plan to mitigate further tailing seepages and write a report into the environmental impacts of the release of contaminated wastewater.

Rougeot equated these non-monetary penalties to "an, ‘I’ll do better next time’ take-home assignment."

"If the AER was serious about protecting local communities and the environment, Imperial Oil would have faced prosecution and a hefty fine," Rougeot said in an Aug. 22 news release.

In a news release announcing the fine, the AER claimed $50,000 is the "maximum base penalty table amount permissible under the regulation and including a representative daily amount."

But environmental law experts told Canada’s National Observer that is simply false.

Under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, the maximum financial penalty for major contraventions is $5,000 per day, which would amount to more than $1.3 million.

The AER opted to fine Imperial Oil $5,000 per month, which is "absolutely not the maximum," according to Drew Yewchuk, a Master of Laws student at the University of British Columbia who used to be a staff lawyer at the University of Calgary’s Public Interest Law Clinic.

Imperial’s fine represents a 95 per cent reduction in the maximum penalty.

On Twitter, Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MP Heather McPherson called the five-figure fine "absurd and insulting," echoing Chief Adam’s contrast between Imperial Oil’s profits and the amount they’ve been ordered to pay.

"The Alberta Energy Regulator has once again shown that they have no interest [in] protecting the interests of Albertans," said McPherson.

The ACFN filed a $800-million lawsuit against the AER in March 2024, arguing that by failing to keep the First Nation informed of ongoing seepages, the regulator failed in its "duty of care to ACFN as a downstream First Nation."

"It would be hard for us to go after Imperial," Chief Adam explained, "because they are in compliance with the guidelines, so you go after the AER, who put the policies and the guidelines in place and explain to them why their policies and guidelines in place are failing.

"They’re the only ones that are in control, and they’re the only ones that could make the necessary changes to correct the problems."

But, ultimately, Chief Adam said he wants to see the AER "dismantled and replaced" with an "independent regulatory board that is comprised of regular Albertans and First Nations alike."

In addition to pursuing legal action through Canadian courts, Adam said he intends to draw international attention to ACFN’s cause at the United Nations.

Adam said his people made their "first pitch" to the international community in Dubai, where four ACFN delegates travelled in December to attend the COP28 climate conference, with chief and council delivering a video statement to delegates about the impact of tar sands production on their health, lands and waters.

He said the Canadian and Alberta governments were so concerned with what the band leadership was going to say on the international stage that they asked to see the transcript of their remarks beforehand, which they refused to provide.

"We will expose Canada, and we will expose Alberta for what they’re doing to our people, because they speak on our behalf when they go into the world.

"And it’s time now that we, the First Nations people, start speaking on our behalf and tell the truth about what is really happening to our people," said Chief Adam.