Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation sues Alberta Energy Regulator [Video]

An Alberta First Nation has filed a sweeping lawsuit against the province’s energy regulator and the government over releases from an oilsands mine, alleging the agency acted in bad faith and is set up in a way that violates the Constitution.

“The (Alberta Energy Regulator) has to change,” Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said in an interview Wednesday.

The lawsuit stems from releases of process-affected water from Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

In May 2022, seepage on the site was reported to First Nations and communities as discoloured water pooling on the surface. They were not informed that the seepage contained toxic tailings until February 2023, when the regulator issued environmental protection orders against Imperial, and then only after 5.3 million litres of contaminated wastewater escaped from a holding pond.

Although the seepage was contained within the Kearl lease, tailings residue was …