Alberta’s power regulator has confirmed hazardous chemical substances are current in a small physique of water after two releases of tailings-contaminated wastewater from Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands mine.
In an replace launched Tuesday, the company stated hydrocarbons and naphthenic acids had been present in an unnamed fish-bearing lake positioned nearly totally inside Imperial’s lease about 70 kilometers north of Fort McMurray.
“Check outcomes on April 3 recognized the presence of F2 hydrocarbons and naphthenic acids on the two sampling places closest to the seepage website,” a press release from the regulator stated. “These parts are potential indicators of commercial wastewater inside … a fish-bearing water physique on the northeastern fringe of Imperial’s Kearl lease.”
F2 hydrocarbons are lighter petrochemicals. Naphthenic acids are shaped from the breakdown of petrochemicals and are usually present in oil sands tailings.
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The lake, close to the place the releases happened, is lower than 1 / 4 of a sq. kilometer in measurement.
The regulator stated the degrees of these toxins stay beneath tips for the safety of aquatic life.
“There’s at present no indication of a change in ingesting water high quality and no opposed affect on fish or wildlife has been noticed,” the regulator stated. “It’s untimely to attract any conclusions primarily based on these take a look at outcomes and additional testing is being performed.”
An Imperial Oil spokesman stated these chemical substances weren’t discovered on the lake’s outlet to a tributary of the Firebag River.
The information follows an earlier warning from Atmosphere Canada that Imperial should take motion to stop the chemical substances from coming into fish-bearing waters, which might violate the Fisheries Act. That regulation prohibits any discharge of dangerous materials into fish-bearing waters.
Martin Olszynski, a professor of useful resource regulation on the College of Calgary, stated the regulator’s discovering might have a bearing on whether or not Imperial is charged below the regulation.
“They’re very clearly speaking about industrial wastewater,” he stated. “Not simply bitumen-influenced, however industrial wastewater.”
The degrees of contaminants discovered within the fish-bearing water are usually not a consideration, he stated.
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“It does not matter the portions detected.”
Olszynski stated the regulator referred to “potential” indicators of wastewater, suggesting the chemical substances weren’t conclusively linked to the Imperial launch.
“It is onerous to understand how a lot heavy lifting that phrase does,” he stated.
Imperial first discovered discolored water seeping from one in every of its tailings ponds in Could, which has since been confirmed to be groundwater contaminated with oil sands tailings.
In February, one other 5.3 million liters of tailings-contaminated wastewater escaped from a catchment pond.
The seepage continues, though Imperial has constructed new trenches and put in pumps to stop it from spreading.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
