Ottawa Supplying Bottled Water to First Nations Communities Near Toxic Leak in Alberta

Patty Hajdu, newly sworn in as Minister of Indigenous Services and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario Patty Hajdu speaks during a press conference in Ottawa, Canada, on Oct. 26, 2021. (Lars Hagberg/AFP via Getty Images)

The federal government is providing bottled water to First Nations communities located in close proximity to a toxic water leak from an oil-sands site in northern Alberta, says Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu.

Hajdu made the announcement at a press conference in Ottawa on March 20, where she and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault addressed the toxic, tailings-contaminated water leakage onto Crown lands from the Kearl Oil Sands Mine owned by Imperial Oil Resources Limited, which is Canada’s largest petroleum refiner.

Imperial reported an initial spill at the site to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) in May 2022 and another in early February 2023. AER did not inform the federal government of either leak until Feb. 7, 2023.

The provincial regulator is supposed to inform Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) of any leaks within 24 hours of learning about them.

Hajdu told reporters that she has heard from leaders of First Nations communities in the area that they are “devastated” by the leaks and are now afraid that their water sources have been contaminated for some time.

Water Tested

ECCC enforcement officers in the area recently collected water samples from a land-based seep near a fish-bearing waterbody in close proximity to Imperial’s Kearl oilsands site.

ECCC wrote in a statement issued on March 20 that recent test results show local drinking water to be safe, potable, and up to Canadian drinking water standards.

It added that there will be a “first meeting of the drinking water quality working group” on March 23 that will consist of representatives from the federal government.

“The Government of Canada is ready to engage on longer-term options to address water quality concerns of communities,” ECCC wrote.

Hajdu says First Nations communities in the area “have no trust or faith that the testing results are accurate,” adding that “both leaders and communities feel that they’ve been misled over the [past] number of months.”

In response, Hajdu says Indigenous Services Canada is providing drinkable, bottled water to the communities and is also covering all costs associated with doing so.

The minister said the bottled water has already been delivered to some of the communities and is still on the way to others.

“We will continue to provide that over the next period of time,” she said.

Also speaking at the press conference, Guilbeault once again spoke about his plan for a new body made up of both federal and provincial members that would share information about environmental issues occurring in Alberta’s oilsands, such as tailings-contaminated water spills.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.