Documents filed by Imperial Oil show the company and Alberta’s energy regulator knew the Kearl oil sands mine was seeping tailings into groundwater years before a pool of contaminated fluid was reported on the surface, alarming area First Nations and triggering three investigations, the Canadian Press reports.
“They knew there was seepage to groundwater,” said Mandy Olsgard, an environmental toxicologist who has consulted for area First Nations. However, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and Imperial “decided not to notify the public and just manage it internally.”
The revelations add to a timeline of events that had already made headlines, after a report by management consultants at Deloitte showed big shortcomings in the regulator’s protocols.
Click here for the timeline and the rest of this developing story.