First Nations chiefs criticize Alberta premier’s Kearl oilsands tailings spill comments

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is minimizing the effect of two large releases of oilsands tailings water, two area First Nations leaders said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Environment Canada confirmed the Alberta government didn’t pass along news of the spill. The federal agency, which is investigating the spill, released a timeline saying the department first learned of the releases from First Nations.

Earlier this week, Smith said the release of at least 5.3 million litres of toxic tailings from Imperial Oil’s Kearl Lake mine had no effect on local waterways or wildlife.

She also blamed Imperial for slow communications on the releases, which resulted in “misinformation” being spread.

“I don’t really know why she would say that,” said Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, which is downstream of the releases. Its members also harvest on land adjacent to them.

“I truly believe it’s too early to be definite. (Smith’s) comments are very concerning.”

Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said the releases — which contain toxic levels of contaminants, such as arsenic — are much more than a communications issue.

“This is an environmental catastrophe that the (Alberta Energy Regulator) and Imperial Oil tried to cover up and now the premier and (Environment Minister Sonya Savage) are trying to minimize.”

Smith’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last May, Imperial discovered brown sludge that later turned out to be seepage from a nearby tailings pond.

Tailings are the water, clay, sand and a small amount of leftover bitumen that remain after most of the bitumen has been removed from the oilsands during the extraction process at the mine.

The company told Alberta officials and the First Nations about the initial finding but didn’t release further…