The head of the Alberta Energy Regulator, Laurie Pushor, has refused to disclose when the provincial government was informed about a leaking tailings pond in the oilsands. Pushor declined to answer the question posed by a parliamentary committee investigating the issue. Imperial Oil had been aware of the problem for nine months before notifying area First Nations and governments. Pushor insisted that an independent review being conducted by the regulator’s board of directors would address all questions and answers. The report will be released, although it is unclear who will be involved in the inquiry or what its terms of reference will be.
Pushor apologized for the notification delay and pledged improvement. He said the regulator was ensuring that none of the toxins from the release had entered drinking water or affected wildlife, and that Imperial had been required to install dozens of new monitoring wells and had made all relevant data public. Indigenous groups from the area called for reforms to how Alberta’s oilsands are regulated, with some asking for more federal involvement. The groups requested an overhaul of the regulatory system, saying they had no remaining trust in the regulator and calling for it to be disbanded.
Federal and provincial environment ministers said they were not informed about the seepage and a second 5.3-million litre wastewater release until the regulator issued a protection order on Feb. 6. Pushor, however, said he personally told the province about the releases one or two days prior to the order being issued. The first communication about emergencies should come from the producer, Pushor said, stressing that it was Imperial’s responsibility to inform communities about the issue.
Edmonton New Democrat MP Heather McPherson questioned Pushor about when any representative from the provincial government was notified, but he preferred not to answer. McPherson requested that Pushor testify under oath, and he was the only witness to do so in three days of hearings on the Imperial leaks. Conservative MP Greg McLean apologized to Pushor for the way he was treated differently. McPherson expressed her exasperation with Pushor’s response and argued that he was accountable to Parliament and Canadians, and that Albertans had a right to know when the regulator informed the governing United Conservative Party about the seepage and what the government’s response was.