News Release: Obed Mine Sentencing
June 13, 2017
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Obed Mine Disaster
Sentencing Confirms Polluters will Pay – Key Questions Remain
On June 9, Prairie Mines & Royalty ULC (formerly Coal Valley Resources Inc.) pled guilty to federal and provincial charges, and was fined $4.5 million plus cleanup costs, for a 2013 coal tailings spill – one of the largest environmental disasters in Alberta’s history – into the Athabasca River headwaters.
Concerned conservation groups who have followed this tragic spill and the delay of punitive action accept that these penalties send a message that operators in Alberta will be held accountable when polluting the environment. However, Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) and Keepers of the Athabasca remain concerned that an opaque investigative process still leave Albertans at risk and in the dark about major environmental liabilities from mines and their tailings.
“We recognize the sentencing is a strong message to operators of tailings ponds,” says AWA Conservation Specialist Nick Pink, “Operators must manage their structures responsibly or they will be held accountable for harming rivers and fisheries.”
Outstanding questions remain about the actions of both the operator and the regulator. Because a settlement was reached, the questions will not be heard in public court proceeding.
“We believe further details should be released. The role of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the tailing ponds inspection protocols currently in place must be addressed,” says Marie Breiner of Keepers of the Athabasca.
Provincial regulators visited the site twice in the months immediately before the spill; the public deserves to know why the regulator did not or could not prevent the spill. According to the Agreed Statement of Facts, the operator was aware that the breached tailings pit was filled beyond its maximum safe volume for at least 3 years prior to the breach. Despite warnings, there was no spillway constructed to prevent such a breach from occurring.
“There are a number of questions regarding the actions of the AER in the lead up to this catastrophic event that remain unanswered,” says Fraser Thomson, Barrister & Solicitor at Ecojustice. “Three and a half years later the AER has still not released its investigation report into what went wrong nor has it told Albertans how these types of disasters will be prevented in the future.”
Most of the $3.5 million penalties are directed to fish habitat restoration and research, coal tailings safety research and an indigenous education project. The groups agree that creative sentencing is a constructive way to positively impact some of the fisheries and First Nations directly affected by this catastrophe, but emphasize it would be better to prevent catastrophes like this from happening in the first place.
Background
On October 31, 2013, coal mine wastes breached an earth berm at the Obed Mountain Mine, near Hinton, Alberta. Approximately 670-million litres of water containing tonnes of sediment and coal fines flowed into the Apetowun and Plante creeks. These tributaries are important habitat for threatened native Athabasca rainbow trout and bull trout. As the resulting plume of contaminated water flowed down-river, the Alberta government advised communities not to withdraw water from the river and advised livestock producers to keep livestock from drinking river water. AWA and Keepers of the Athabasca, with the assistance of legal representation from Ecojustice, have worked tirelessly to have the facts in the case revealed and the operators brought to justice.
For more information:
Nick Pink, Alberta Wilderness Association, (403) 283-2025
Marie Breiner, Keepers of the Athabasca, (780) 903-5838
