Some Northern residents vow to oppose federal regulations to release treated oilsands tailings water

Northerners say the federal government's plan to regulate the release of treated oilsands tailings water will be met with opposition by communities downstream.

As the N.W.T. Environment minister gears up for a diplomatic approach with Alberta and Canada, Dene leaders like Smith's Landing First Nation Chief Gerry Cheezie are prepared to take legal action with Dene Nation, and to bring their opposition to the release of tailings water all the way to Ottawa.

"It's unthinkable. It's a human rights issue along with being environmental racism," said Cheezie, who argues that releasing water from tailings, the byproduct of the extraction process used to remove the oil from the sand and clay,violates treaty rights to access lands and waters.

"I can't believe the Government of Canada is willing to release this toxic sludge on our river and on our people," he said. "We're not going to sit back and allow this to happen."

A working group for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada has been developing standards for releasing treated tailings water since the beginning of 2021. The draft regulations under the Fisheries Act are slated for 2024, with final regulations by 2025.

Researchers are working to develop methods that affordably treat tailings without raising emissions in the process.

CBC reached out to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada, but the ministry did not provide a statement by publicationtime.

The release of oilsands tailings water to surface water is currently prohibited. Some experts argue that discharging treated water would be safer than allowing the tailings to accumulate, where they could accidentally be released in the event of a flood or other natural disaster.

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Theponds where the tailings are stored contain an estimated 1.4 trillion litres of tailings thathave been deposited in the boreal forest since bitumen mining began in the 1960s.

That's enough to fill 560,000 Olympic swimming pools. If those pools were lined up end to end, they would extend 28,000 kilometres,roughly the distance from Yellowknife to the tip of Argentina and back.

Cheezie said next year, Dene Nation will meet and mount an education campaign about the impact tailings water release would have on the North.

"We're totally opposed to treatment and release of tailings ponds into the Athabasca because eventually it will flow into the Great Slave and eventually end up in the Mackenzie River and ultimately end up in the Arctic Ocean. Most of our communities are along this river system."

Cheezie said the N.W.T. government should "take a stand" and not "hide" behind the transboundary water agreement with Alberta, whichrequires the provinceto inform the N.W.T. about changes that will affect the territory's waters.

He said that agreement has "no teeth" and is not protecting the North from pollutants.

Legal action a last resort: N.W.T. environment minister

N.W.T. Environment Minister Shane Thompson said the territory's deputy minister is emailing back and forth with Alberta's deputy minister, a line of communication that is open because of the transboundary water agreement.

According toa guidebook, the agreement, signed in 2015, isbased on a commitment to maintain the shared waters and ecosystems of the Mackenzie River Basin and requires governments to notify each other of any development or activity, such as regulatory changes,that could affect shared water management.

"I have to believe in the system that we're going to have communications with the federal minister, the Alberta minister to work it out," Thompsonsaid, noting thatN.W.T. officials will meet withAlberta'soffice of thechief scientistin January.

He said sharing scientific information with Indigenous governments will form part of the territory's response. When the N.W.T. meets with its climate change council and Indigenous leadership, they will add water management to the agenda.

While he personally opposes the release of treated tailings water, the minister said he'll prioritize the science and puthis faith in the transboundary water agreement.

Thompson said considering legal action at this point is "too negative" and would be a last resort. He said Alberta honoured theagreement in 2020 during the Fort McMurray floods whenthe provincewarnedthe N.W.T. in a timely manner.

"They didn't wait a week. They didn't wait a month. It was within hours of water going over the top they were already reaching out to us."

He saidthat notification shows the benefits of the agreement, which is "unheard of in other jurisdictions."

According to Thompson, N.W.T. government officials want to meet with federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeaultand Alberta's environment minister in 2022.

N.W.T. Premier Caroline Cochrane is headed to Ottawa this week.Cheezie said his hope is that she brings up this issue with the prime minister, "because it's going to destroy our people and our river."

A spokesperson for the premier wrote in an emailedthat there is "no plan" to do so.

"We have heard the concerns of Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, and residents across the N.W.T., and we share these concerns" and the territoryis waiting to receive more information beforemakinga decision,the statement reads.

'We're the toilet bowl of Fort Mac'

At the edge of oilsands development, Alice Rigney, a Dene elder in Fort Chipewyan, has toured Suncor's reclamation lakes, including a pond along the Athabasca River.

Whilethe ponds may "look appealing," she remains sceptical ofthose who say the tailings water can be released safely, because she says communities downstream already face health impacts.

"The feds and the province say that it's OK, but we live downstream all the people along the Mackenzie right to the Arctic Ocean. We're the toilet bowl of Fort Mac and if they lived here, I'm sure they would see it differently," she said.

"We have our experts the land users, the people who are affected at this end and all the way up to the Mackenzie."

Rigneysays water levels have dropped, the whitefish are gone, the commercial fishery is closed and there are no muskrats or berries to be found.

"Jackfish Lake used to be our pantrywe could fish and hunt, pick berries, my mom and dad used to move out there and there were thousands of fish for dry fish," a traditional method of preserving fish to eat later.

Rigney said even drinking water from the Athabasca River andinland streams is no longer acceptable and some lakes are drained.

She said the work to regulate the release of tailings water is "obviously made by people who can look at it from a distance in their Calgary office" and that nogovernment should support industry's request to release treated tailings water.

"As Dene Indigenous people we are Earth watchers. I wanna leave this world knowing I did what I could for my grandson, for those yet to come. To protect the land and only take what you need," Rigneysaid.

"I'm not gonna move. I defend my home."