At COP15, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, Canada focused on biodiversity protection, meaningful partnership with Indigenous Peoples and science-based policies. 

Yet when the rubber hits the road on each of these priorities with cases like the oilsands tailings ponds, Canada is headed the wrong way. It is time for the government to put a stop to the oil industry’s toxic takeover of lands.

Tailings ponds are industry-made reservoirs the size of lakes that store nearly 1.4 trillion litres of toxic byproduct from oil production. They cover vast swaths of the boreal forest in Northern Alberta, currently taking up over 300 square kilometres — enough to cover the city of Paris three times over. They contain dangerous chemicals such as ammonia, lead, mercury, benzene and naphthenic acids, and are known to leak and evaporate their toxic content into the surrounding environment. 

Conservation advocates have long raised concerns about birds such as great blue herons, landing in oilsands tailings ponds. More than one million migratory birds fly over the reach each year. Photo: Carol Linnitt / The Narwhal

More than one million migratory birds fly over the oilsands region during their spring and fall migrations, including endangered species such as whooping cranes. Birds mistake tailings “ponds” for safe rest stops along their migratory route and either perish or suffer later on due to the acute toxicity of the mixture.

Fish have been spotted with tumours, while Indigenous communities using the land report a noticeable decline in wildlife in the area, from big caribou to small muskrats. The very existence of the “ponds” destroyed hundreds of square kilometres of carbon-sequestering peatlands, which cannot be restored.

Tailings pollution in the oilsands is a symbol of colonial injustice. Since the creation of the “ponds,” the nations downstream of the oilands, including Mikisew Cree First Nation, have been participating in federal and provincial consultations, monitoring programs and environmental assessments. 

Not once in nearly fifty years, since the oilsands operations began had there been an acknowledgment of the risks posed by the tailings — despite the nations voicing their concerns for ecological and human wellbeing and asking for adequate risk studies to be conducted.

Government considering allowing oilsands companies to release tailings ponds into river

Now, a new plan is being hatched in the oilsands: oil companies want to flush partially treated tailings ponds into the Athabasca River, which the Fisheries Act currently forbids. 

Canada has been considering obliging the industry’s request. But if Canada is sincere about its commitment to science-based policy, it should listen to the scientists calling for an independent risk assessment of the proposed release. Any authorized release should also commit to the highest possible water-quality standards.  

The ecological value of the potentially impacted area can not be overstated. The Athabasca River is one of the headwaters of the Mackenzie River Basin, the largest watershed in Canada and the most intact large-scale ecosystem on the continent. As an integral part of the Arctic drainage basin, it is the Arctic Amazon. The nearby Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is already in jeopardy due to industrial activity in the area and the threat of tailings release.

Not far from the oilsands, Wood Buffalo National Park, itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in jeopardy due to industrial activity in the area. Photo: Louis Bockner / Sierra Club BC

The communities and species of the area already feel the cumulative impacts of oilsands exploitation and other industrial activity. While operators tout the safety of their operations, there are already numerous ways in which oilsands waste is released to the environment, from aerial emissions and deposition of volatile compounds, seepage to groundwater and release of other industrial wastewaters. 

Mikisew Cree First Nation experiences high rates of auto-immune disease and rare cancers, especially bile duct cancer. Despite these alarming cases, there has been no baseline health study to attempt to understand the causes. 

Canada must seek consent from impacted nations to release tailings ponds fluids

Canada must make a public commitment that it will not move forward in authorizing the release without the consent of the impacted nations. Dene lawyer Daniel T’seleie argues Canada has a legal obligation to obtain the consent of all nations impacted by the release due to its passing of Bill C-15, which stipulates “Canada must take all measures necessary to ensure that its laws are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples.”

Alberta’s oilsands tailings ponds are the largest in the world. The federal government is developing regulations to allow for treated tailings water to be released back into the environment. Photo: Alex MacLean

Canada must also bring Indigenous nations, oilsands operators and relevant provincial authorities to the same table and negotiate a plan for fulsome reclamation of the area, paid for by the operators. 

Finally, Canada must ensure that solutions to the tailings issue are supported by thorough and independent risk assessment to align with Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault’s statement during COP15 that “this government’s core value is science underpinning policy.”

We will be watching the government’s actions very closely to see if they align with those values.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

Aliénor Rougeot is the climate and energy program manager for Environmental Defence.

Since the dawn of the oilsands, toxic waste has been left over from the industry’s operations. Often benignly called “tailings ponds,” Canada’s governments have so far failed to get oil companies to clean up their mess.

The latest industry-led “clean-up” approach of dumping partially treated tailings into the Athabasca River — which the federal government is poised to approve — risks creating an environmental and human health disaster so far unseen in the oilsands.

Today, Alberta’s tailings are the largest in the world, equating to 1.7 times the size of Vancouver. According to a recent report from the Alberta Energy Regulator, tailings are growing, and will continue to do so as industry ramps up production. Despite industry assurances, there is irrefutable evidence tailings are leaking into groundwater. 

Dumping partially treated toxic tailings into a source of drinking water when so little government research and science exists about the risks this approach poses would be irresponsible and a violation of Indigenous Rights. There is no independent science that shows dumping oilsands tailings in fresh water can be done safely for human health and the environment. Alberta’s tailings contain 300 chemicals, including mercury, arsenic, cyanide, benzene, lots of salt and naphthenic acids, all of which pose a risk to the health of the Athabasca River, the wildlife it hosts and the people who depend on it.

This is a crisis few Canadians know much about. What is required to protect the local communities, their drinking water and the land is immediate federal government action to reject the industry-led solution to dump “treated” tailings into Athabasca River, and help to find a safer solution, even if it costs more. 

Mikisew Cree member Robert Grandjambe checks his nets on Lake Athabasca, downstream of the oilsands, in Fort Chipewyan, Alta. Lake Athabasca is a part of the world’s largest inland delta in Wood Buffalo National Park. The park may become listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Danger due, in part, to the upstream impacts of the Alberta oilsands. Photo: Louis Bockner / Sierra Club BC

A growing group of environmental organizations, local Indigenous groups, scientists and social justice groups are proposing some key interim solutions which the federal government should support.

To begin, the federal government should cap oilsands production to stop the rapid growth of toxic tailings. Then, industry should recycle the toxic waste instead of immediately dumping it. Industry already recycles much of its wastewater, but not what it dumps as tailings.

Suncor, for one, says it cannot re-use this waste due to its high salt content. However, the salt can be removed through desalination to allow full recycling. So why don’t they do it? Cost — desalination is more expensive than dumping tailings into fresh water.

It’s official: Alberta’s oilsands tailings ponds are leaking. Now what?

The oil and gas industry, one of the most profitable in the world, has had more than 50 years to put aside funds required for cleanup. Cost should not be an excuse.

However, the federal government seems to have listened to the call of industry and has already started developing new regulations to approve dumping the tailings into the Athabasca River. This is the same government that has promised to ensure all First Nations have access to clean drinking water and has proposed amending the Canadian Environmental Protection Act so every person living in Canada has a right to a healthy environment.

There is still time for Ottawa to change course. It has the jurisdiction to do what’s needed and enforce the Fisheries Act, which would hold companies accountable for the leaking ponds and demand they take action to address the leaks. It can include tailings ponds in its risk assessment of naphthenic acids, to start the process of having information on the risk the tailings pose to the surrounding environment. It can closely collaborate with provinces and industry to push for a treat and reuse, not treat and release, approach.

First Nations and Métis communities, as rights holders, should have seats at the decision-making table alongside federal, provincial and industry representatives. Solutions to this crisis must be rooted in independent science. Any option that increases health risks for First Nations must be fully understood and communicated before proceeding. To respond to the valid concern that current tailings could overflow, the onus must be on industry to prevent breaches and leaks, while long term clean-up solutions are developed.

Tailings ponds are far from benign — they are a looming crisis that requires a solution that works to best protect the health and safety of the Athabasca River and the people and wildlife that depend on it.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.