MONTRÉAL – In reaction to the Alberta Energy Regulator’s commissioned independent review of the AER’s internal processes and response to Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine toxic wastewater leak, Greenpeace Canada climate campaigner Salomé Sané said:
“If everything can go so wrong while the regulator claims it did everything right, it only means that the rot within the system runs deep. Apologies are meaningless if not accompanied by meaningful action to fix those systemic failures. The AER needs to take the concerns of impacted First Nations and Métis communities seriously, because it is their communities’ health and traditional ways of life that are on the line. Justice was not achieved today and we stand in solidarity with the Indigenous communities demanding the AER and Imperial Oil be held accountable for their irresponsibility and negligence.”
ENDS
Notes to editor:
In early March 2023, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation revealed that a major spill of 5.3 million litres of toxic “tailings” occurred from Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine in the Athabasca watershed in Northern Alberta. Imperial was aware of four other leaks that have been ongoing since at least May 2022 and did not report them.Greenpeace Canada called for Imperial Oil to be charged over Kearl spill.
For more information, please contact:
Adeoluwa Atayero, Communications Officer, Greenpeace Canada
[email protected]; +1 306 501-1314
