Oily sheen on tailings pond Photo: Julia Kilpatrick, the Pembina Institute
CALGARY — Jan Gorski, director of the Pembina Institute’s oil and gas team made the following statement in response to the Alberta Energy Regular’s September 28 announcement, "AER Board receives Deloitte Canada’s Reports on the Kearl Incidents": https://www.aer.ca/board.
“Yesterday, an independent review was released of the Alberta Energy Regulator’s handling of two incidents of tailings leaks at Imperial Oil’s Kearl Oil Sands Mine in 2022 and 2023. Despite waiting nine months to communicate the extent and impacts of those leaks to Indigenous communities, the review 'confirms that the AER followed existing policies, standards, procedures or processes in response to the Kearl incidents.'
“The role of the Alberta Energy Regulator is to protect people, property, and the environment. The AER’s months-long inaction in communicating this incident to Indigenous communities failed to meet that obligation. This raises a serious question about the sufficiency of the AER’s existing policies, standards and procedures.”
Contact
Communications Manager
Industrial Decarbonization, Pembina Institute
587-606-4185 or 438-878-1703