Suncor Energy has reported a spill of 5,900 cubic metres (208,356.5 cubic feet) of muddy water from a sedimentation pond at Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills oil sands mining project in northern Alberta.
The spill on April 16 was reported to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) because the total suspended solids, in this case mud, in the water exceeded the approved limits, Suncor said.
Oil sands companies face intense scrutiny over how they manage their tailings ponds, which hold a toxic mixture of mining waste products and water. Imperial Oil said in February that ponds at its Kearl site had been seeping for months and another spill released 5,300 cubic metres of process water in late January.
“This is not a tailings pond, but a water run off pond that collects and discharges run off into Fort Creek (not directly to the Athabasca), in line with regulatory approvals,” Suncor spokeswoman Erin Rees said in an email.
The AER said Suncor is working to understand why the release into the Athabasca exceeded the approved regulatory limit for total suspended solids, and has taken water quality samples for analysis.
“Suncor have contacted Indigenous communities in the area and we have followed-up with our own communication,” the AER said in an email.