CALGARY, Alberta, May 4 (Reuters) - Canada's federal environment ministry on Thursday opened a formal investigation into a months-long tailings leak at Imperial Oil's (IMO.TO) Kearl oil sands mine in northern Alberta, signalling a potential prosecution.
Tailings, a toxic mining by-product containing water, silt, residual bitumen and metals, have been seeping from Imperial's site since last May, angering local Indigenous communities who hunt and fish on the lands downstream from Canada's oil sands mines.
The company first discovered discolored water on its Kearl site in May 2022 and informed the AER and some local Indigenous communities, but failed to update those communities when testing showed the water contained tailings.
Canada's Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, one of only two Liberals lawmakers in Alberta, said the Kearl leak and poor communication was "simply unacceptable".
"It's unjust for Indigenous communities that are living downstream to have questions about their drinking water table and the health of the natural environment."