Alberta First Nations want charges laid over Obed spill

The Mikisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations in Alberta say they're considering legal action over a coal mine spill at the Obed Mountain Mine. The groups say the provincial and federal governments haven't gone far enough to protect water and fish.

In October, 670-million litres of water from a tailings pond at the Obed coal mine leaked into the Athabasca River. A month later, Sherritt International issued a letter saying that water quality in the Athabasca river was safe.

Bruce Maclean manages the Mikisew Cree and Athasbasca Chipewyan First Nation’s monitoring program.

“What was most distressing to the community members was there had been broadcasts by the company, Sherritt, in the two traditional languages — Dene and Cree — that were saying that everything was okay. That the water and the fish were safe,” Maclean says. “There's no clear indication that things are okay. In fact, there are probably going to be long-standing impacts to fish habitat on that stretch of the Athabasca.”

MacLean says data provided by the Alberta government suggest there's no evidence of the mine waste around the town of Athabasca.

But the First Nations say their own tests found triple the amount of sediment normally found in Lake Athabasca, though the groups can't say for sure if that increase is from the coal mine incident.

In a joint press release, the two First Nations groups, along with Mining Watch and several environmental groups say they are “deeply troubled by the corporation’s and the provincial and federal governments failure to acknowledge the significant environmental effects and ongoing risks to the Athabasca watershed.“

Maclean says he'd like to see charges laid and more government transparency.

“I think what we're looking for is some form of accountability from the federal and Alberta governments, and making it clear that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable,” Maclean says.

Jessica Potter speaks for the Alberta government and says they are investigating, but it's too early to tell if any environmental laws have been broken.

“Essentially, our experts have been on the ground overseeing all the activities since day one,” Potter says. “And we're going to continue to oversee the actions of the company because we are the regulator."

The Alberta government says it posts all of its data from the spill online, and it will continue to keep communities living downstream in the loop. The government also encourages all independent monitors to share their data with the government.

The federal government wasn't available for an interview.