We need to get oilsands water rules right

Politically charged decision needs care and thought, Melody Lepine says.

Currently, there is a volume of almost 400,000 Olympicsized swimming pools of fluid tailings accumulated in the Athabasca oilsands. It covers approximately 220 square kilometres of area, which is roughly one-quarter the size of Calgary. The accumulation of fluid tailings and process-affected water on oilsands sites is one of the industry’s most pressing problems. Water needs to be released back into the environment, but no one knows how to do this safely. It’s imperative we get this right.

Mikisew Cree First Nation resides immediately downstream of oilsands development, in the heart of Canada’s largest inland freshwater delta. Our territory includes Wood Buffalo National Park, a World Heritage Site, which is the subject of ongoing international scrutiny by the World Heritage Committee. Mikisew Cree First Nation members have lived in the region since time immemorial, our culture, rights and heritage are intimately related to the health of the landscape, particularly the water.

We are very concerned about the potential impacts of water management in the oilsands on our traditional territory and the Peace-athabasca Delta. The industry has accumulated such large volumes due to well-meaning regulations: because oilsands process water has the potential to be toxic, current regulations prohibit oilsands operators from releasing water into the environment.

These fluids are complex mixtures of inorganic (metals and salts) and organic (naphthenic acids, phenolics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) compounds. The various substances are associated with adverse health effects in humans, wildlife, and fish as well as fish tainting, acidification and eutrophication of wetland and aquatic ecosystems. However, fluid accumulation also leads to other problems, including issues with dam safety and concerns about a breach, and the difficulty for operators to manage these incredible volumes on-site. So, release is needed, but how?

Deposition of deleterious substances in fish-bearing waters is prohibited by the Federal Fisheries Act. Other industries, such as metal mines and pulp and paper operations, have regulations and monitoring guidelines governing the quality of water that can be released into receiving waters. The oilsands sector lacks these specific release and effectsbased monitoring guidelines. Both the federal and provincial governments are beginning the process of developing these regulations for oilsands.

In the meantime, Alberta has the potential to regulate release using existing environmental assessment processes, which were not designed for this sort of project. In an environmental impact assessment, the scoping of the project is done by the proponent, which often results in poor studies that don’t adhere to provincial or federal guidance documents.

In this vacuum of regulation, a passive process has evolved whereby provincial applications for effluent releases consider deposition of deleterious substances, but approvals are issued by the provincial government and regulators with little to no oversight by the federal government. There’s no consideration of potential accumulation of compounds of concern in the food web, how chemicals bind to sediments and move downstream, and limited consideration of policy or treatment alternatives.

The decision on how to release process water into the Athabasca is technically difficult and politically charged. Unfortunately, Alberta and industry are barrelling ahead without doing the policy development that is needed. For as big an issue as releasing potentially toxic oilsands process water into one of Canada’s most iconic rivers, that feeds into a world heritage site, and that is central to the culture and homeland of our people, we fervently hope that everyone takes the time to get it right.

In this vacuum of regulation, a passive process has evolved ...