Environment Committee on April 24th, 2023

[Laurie Pushor]

About two-thirds of water body 3 is on the mine site and is part of the approved mining plan under the joint review panel as a settling pond and a containment pond, so it is integral to the long-term mining strategy.

I would note that the sampling of naphthenic acids and F2 hydrocarbons were, until recently.... We had one F2 hydrocarbon sample that exceeded the levels that are approved. Prior to that, all were at minimum levels or below exceedances. We have had no test results that suggest that any of those compounds have left water body 3.

As a result of seeing the first exceedance, we instructed Imperial to implement what we would call their next phase of containment around that water body. They're drilling a number of interception wells to intercept any potential seepage. They are putting in facilities across the water body to slow the movement of water across it and they've also begun construction on a containment facility, a dam, so that the outflow could be stopped if needed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thanks very much.

We'll go to the second round.

We have Mr. Kurek for five minutes, please.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to our witnesses again for being here.

Let me start as I often do. If there's further information you feel would be valuable to the committee's work, please feel free to follow up with that.

I would note as well that this committee has passed a motion and will be undertaking at some point in the future a study on fresh water in Canada. Certainly the testimony we've received during the course of this study will be part of that, but I would encourage you, if you have further information, to feel free to send it to this committee.

Mayor Bowman, thank you for joining us here today. I think that many members of this committee and many Canadians don't understand the impact that the economic activity in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has on our nation, so I appreciate your being here and sharing some of that.

We've heard how important water is, and I've heard both anecdotally and from a number of communities up north. If Mrs. Goodridge were here, I'm sure she'd be very well placed to ask these questions.

As a municipality, you've figured out a lot of solutions to some of the challenges. We've seen examples of how very difficult it is to get clean drinking water to remote communities. It seems that your municipality has figured out some of those things.

In light of the bigger context of what we're talking about, with industry working nearby and all of those other dynamics, I'd ask you, Mayor Bowman, to speak a little bit to the success that your municipality seems to have found in getting clean drinking water to rural and remote communities that need it.

[Sandy Bowman]

Yes, I can start that.

We have water treatment plants in all our communities in rural and urban areas. In this instance, Fort Chipewyan takes water from Lake Athabasca. That's where it takes the water from. That intake is treated. It has three reservoir ponds, and then it's treated in a water facility to make sure that the community has clean drinking water.

I myself have experienced ice fishing in Fort Chipewyan—the old fort, the original location of Fort Chipewyan—and it's common practice to drink the water out of the lake while you're fishing. You let it settle and drink the water. That's not uncommon. The water in that area is incredibly above a lot of standards in the world, and our water treatment plants are very effective.

Our CAO can probably speak to how integrally our water treatment plants work. We have water treatment plants in all of our rural communities.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

I'd invite you, Mr. Thorkelsson, to answer in about 30 seconds if you could, because of course time is short.

[Paul Thorkelsson, Chief Administrative Officer , Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo]

Certainly.

As Mayor Bowman pointed out, the community of Fort Chipewyan has a modern water treatment plant. It was expanded and upgraded as recently as 2019. It is at the top of its class in terms the provision of drinking water that meets and exceeds the Canadian drinking water standards.

We have robust testing in place. We test the drinking water that's produced for the community on a daily, weekly and biweekly basis according to our regulator, which is the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas. We've also undertaken additional testing since this incident to ensure that the water that's arriving at our intake is safe to take into our treatment plant.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Can I ask a very direct question?

The safety of water is obviously key here. Has the quality of drinking water in the areas that are under your municipality's management been affected at any point as a result of this spill, yes or no?

[Sandy Bowman]

No, it hasn't been. We've taken on more testing than usual. The drinking water has been clean since this started.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Thank you.

I would just note that it might be good to have you back. I think that others within the federal government could take some lessons from the work that you guys have done in consulting with indigenous communities and in the partnerships that I understand exist there.

Mayor Bowman, I'll go to you in the few seconds that I have left. You've been mayor for about a year and a half?

[Sandy Bowman]

Yes, I've been mayor for almost two years. That's correct.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Your experience has been, as you outlined, quite a bit more positive than much of the testimony we've heard. Do you feel that things are at least moving in the right direction in terms of engagement and whatnot, in the length of experience you have? In that unique perspective, do you feel that things are maybe getting better?

[Sandy Bowman]

In my experience, I've had—

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Answer very quickly, please.

[Sandy Bowman]

In my experience, I've been in the community for 30 years. I have very close relationships with all of the indigenous communities surrounding the RMWB. One of the top ones has been Fort Chipewyan. That gives me a different perspective.

My big thing has always been communication. If we know what's going on, then we can fix it; if we're not given that information, then we can't.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

That's good.

Go ahead, Ms. Thompson, for five minutes, please.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to say that I'm joining you today from my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I would like to acknowledge the land on which I gather as the ancestral homeland of the Beothuk, whose culture has been lost forever and can never be recovered. I also acknowledge that the island of Newfoundland is the unceded traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi'kmaq. I acknowledge Labrador as the traditional and ancestral homeland of the Innu of Nitassinan, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and the Inuit of NunatuKavut. Although each community is distinct, we all desire to chart a way forward together towards reconciliation.

Mr. Pushor, if I could begin with you, we've heard throughout today's testimony a call for change in the regulation level around reviewing projects and the transparency and separation in that process. Could you explain why the AER allowed Imperial Oil to conduct its own investigation into the cause of the spill, despite the potential for conflict of interest and a lack of transparency?

[Laurie Pushor]

First of all, the regulatory structures and communications protocols around the systems as they exist today make it very clear that it is the producer and polluter who is responsible to do the work to sort out what needs to be done to make the necessary repairs. Obviously, that is very closely overseen by our experts across our organization and any others we might deem necessary to do that.

Over the course of time, we also expect the regulated entity or the producer to be the principal communicator of what's happening in that case. I think, because of the nature of this incident evolving as a seep, there are many lessons we need to learn about how to communicate more effectively when we're dealing with a more technical matter—

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you. I know I have very little time.

We certainly have repeatedly heard concerns around communication and the need to do better. In light of that, and in light of the acknowledgement around transparency in this process, I'm not hearing conversations around expanding the process of review to include the organizations and the people that are most affected by this very serious event.

[Laurie Pushor]

As I've said, there's no question that we didn't meet community expectations in keeping them informed. There are a number of different vehicles whereby communities are engaged around the operations of the oil sands. I'm understanding that part of what is under way is a good and healthy conversation around all of those things and how to make them stronger and better.

Regional water monitoring is an example of a collaboration between ECCC and the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas, as well with as many community members. They're monitoring river water quality on the Firebag, the Muskeg and the Athabasca rivers. That conversation is very active in terms of saying what more we can do and how we can do that work better to ensure that those rivers are healthy and strong.

Obviously, we have a lot to learn and a lot to do around how we monitor the impacted area around a mine site and ensure that we're transparent about what's happening in and around those areas. We will take those lessons to heart.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you.

It was previously reported in April 2019—this was well before the seepage occurred—that Imperial Oil was using an older type of leak detection system that's not as sensitive as the newer high-definition models.

Are you aware of this? If so, what action has been taken?

[Laurie Pushor]

I'm aware that the monitoring being done now is being done to the regulatory required standards. We are, in fact, bringing in our own independent assessments.

All of the testing that's being done now—by ourselves, ECCC, Alberta Environment or Imperial—is being done by independent companies that bring modern and effective procedures and testing standards to the work.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

As a quick follow-up, does the AER require companies to utilize up-to-date leak detection technologies? If not, why not? It appears that in this instance, that didn't happen.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Answer very briefly, please, Mr. Pushor.

[Laurie Pushor]

I'm not sure specifically what you're referring to, but the short answer is yes, we expect companies to be meeting the regulatory requirements as they exist.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, you have two and a half minutes.