First Nations consider legal action against Sherritt

First Nations impacted further downstream by the largest coal slurry spill in Canadian history are considering legal action against Sherritt International, the operators of Obed Mountain Mine.

The breach from a pit 30 km east of Hinton on Oct. 31 released approximately 670 million litres of contaminated water into two tributaries leading to the Athabasca River.

“People are getting tired. They’re fed up with the nonsense that’s been going on, everything from the treaties to what’s happening with industry,” said Mikisew Cree Nation Chief Steve Courtereille. “We want to know why the government isn’t doing anything.”

The provincial government may also be named in legal action being considered by the Mikisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

“This isn’t new for ACFN and Mikisew to have concerns for the river system and Sherritt was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said ACFN spokesperson Eriel Deranger. “And considering it was the largest spill in history and the information was not really being shared openly by Sherritt or the government and there are still a lot of questions that the Nation has.”

Meetings between the two First Nations and Sherritt were scheduled for December, but had to be postponed until January because of the death of Mikisew band councillor Willie Courtoreille, the brother of the Chief.

Sean McCaughan, senior vice president for Sherritt International’s coal operations, says face-to-face meetings with those communities will help to address concerns. Similar meetings have already occurred with the Alexis Sioux Nakota Nation, who have been out to the site. McCaughan says he has spoken to ACFN Chief Allan Adam.

“We’re very interested in sitting down with them and walking through our information,” said McCaughan, who noted that both Sherritt and the Alberta government have made their data public.

But that data has raised concerns with Bruce MacLean, who manages the Mikisew Cree and Athasbasca Chipewyan First Nation community-based monitoring program.

“We noticed a very distinct increase in turbidity levels,” said MacLean. “The concern is that the contamination that came out of that spill was heavily tied to the sediment. It’s the increase in heavy metals in the Peace-Athabasca delta that’s going to have the issues. The chemicals that we are worried about are certainly the ones that are carcinogenic.”

The group undertook monitoring at two sites, one on the Athabasca River and one off the shore of town overtop the water intake, both further downstream than where Sherritt took its readings, says MacLean.

Baseline samples for turbidity and other water chemistry variables were collected six days prior to when the plume was anticipated to reach the site, says MacLean. A three-fold increase in turbidity was observed when the plume was scheduled to arrive.

“What Alberta (Sustainable Resource Development) was finding and what the company’s own (monitorings) were suggesting was that there was no increase,” said MacLean, who challenges Sherritt’s claim that the plume had completely dissipated by that point. “Our data would suggest very strongly that wasn’t the case.”

With the majority of contaminant tied to the sediment now deposited at the bottom of the Athabasca River, MacLean doesn’t anticipate the full impact of the spill to be known until high water in the spring remobilizes the sludge and moves it down river.

“And it will do that over subsequent years. What the ultimate toll is on the delta is going to be really hard to tell,” he said, noting that fish habitat has already been impacted.
McCaughan says he has not seen the data collected by MacLean’s group.

“I think that’s one of the reasons we’d love to sit down with them and why we suggested having a technical session with them,” he said. “We (would)… like to meet with them and understand their concerns.”

ACFN and Mikisew Cree are also pushing for charges to be laid under provisions of the federal Fisheries Act and Alberta’s Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act.

“We had some concerns around the operations that Sherritt had been running and whether or not they were in violation of their licensing,” said Deranger.

McCaughan says the province is on site investigating the incident.

“They’re well into their investigation and it will continue on for some time and we’ll await what comes out of the investigation,” he said.

In late December, Sherritt publicly announced that it was divesting the company of its coal business and that Westmoreland Coal Company would be acquiring those assets.
“They did notify us that it does not mean they’ve sold their responsibilities and obligations to ensure that all legal matters regarding the spill are addressed and they will be addressed by Sherritt themselves,” said Deranger.

Stressed McCaughan, “Sherritt is committed to handling this right and doing what’s right. As a company we place a lot of value on this.”

Photo Caption: At a rally in November, Mikisew Cree Nation Chief Steve Courtereille said his people are concerned about the Obed Mountain Mine spill and challenged the government to “get it together.”