Suncor given one month to change operations at wastewater pond

Provincial officials have ordered Suncor to take corrective action, and make outflow from its industrial wastewater treatment systems comply with provincial standards.

The province said the order relates to a March 2011 report from Suncor, stating a wastewater toxicity test failure – which meant toxicity of wastewater was not under provincial standards from ‘Pond C’.

According the province, Suncor closed the discharge outlet in question after the tests were confirmed.

After the closure, the wastewater was found to still be toxic after a number of test failures – the province said evaluations from Suncor showed a likely source of the toxicity was dissolved organic wastewater contaminants.

Now, under the enforcement order, the company must suspend any discharges from Pond C until their corrective action is evaluated, determine what is causing the toxicity, investigate their wastewater treatment process and keep a closer eye on the pond system’s wastewater.

The province also said Suncor will have to identify other wastewater contaminants and address them as well – Suncor has reportedly proposed a treatment process that wouldn’t effectively remove the organic dissolved compounds.

The company runs a wastewater treatment system made up of a series of treatment ponds – the ponds are authorized under the Environment Protection and Enhancement Act.

Suncor has until April 30 to submit a ‘Toxicity Identification/Toxicity Reduction Evaluation Monitoring Plan to Alberta Environment.

The province said the order is not connected to a burst pipe at a Suncor facility earlier this week – that saw a release of untreated wastewater into the Athabasca River.