The Kearl Oil Sands (Photo submitted by Jay Telegdi)
On Thursday, Imperial Oil stood appeared at the House of Commons in Ottawa to offer an apology for the handling of the tailing ponds leaks from the Kearl Mine northwest of Fort McMurray.
The hearing comes after two tailing ponds at the Kearl Mine, operated by Imperial Oil, seeped into local waterways and into the water sources of nearby Indigenous communities. The company failed to recognize these leaks for almost nice months, leaving local municipalities and communities in the dark about what was happening. The first signs of leakage were discovered in May 2022, and local First Nations were not informed until February 2023.
Brad Corson, CEO of Imperial Oil, spoke in front of the House of Commons, saying that Imperial is “deeply apologetic about what has happened at Kearl.”
“Imperial strives to build strong and lasting relationships with Indigenous communities based on mutual trust, respect, and shared prosperity. We’ve broken this trust,” Corson said April 20.
Since February, Imperial has taken measures to try and fix the bridges they have broken by going to the affected communities, hosting open houses and town halls. Corson has also said communities have been “invited to come to Kearl, so they can see the incidents firsthand, and to see the mitigation steps we’re taking.”
With these actions, Corson says that he hopes that it will rebuild trust between Imperial and the affected communities.
With those community open houses, Corson says that him and his company has “learned a lot. We went there to share information, but also to listen. To understand concerns.”
Corson also says that there was a lot of frustrations expressed during the meetings, and lots of lack of trust was on display by the community folks who attend them. Through it all, Corson said that the company was “very committed to continuing those engagements.”
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