CALGARY — A spill of surface runoff from a containment pond at Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills oilsands site may have spanned more than a year, to the Alberta Energy Regulator has announced.
The regulator said that on Oct. 9, the energy company reported an “unplanned release” of around 662 cubic metres from the pond adjacent to Fort Hills into the Athabasca River.
But on Nov. 24, Suncor informed the regulator that the spill was likely much larger than originally reported.
“… Further investigation of this matter indicated the unplanned release volume may have been closer to 10,000 cubic metres,” the regulator said a new release issued on Friday. “Suncor has also informed the AER that the unplanned release may have been in effect since June 2022 and believe the cause of the release is likely to be a faulty valve.”
The regulator said it visited the site and found the valve is not currently leaking, adding it will be reviewing sampling data from June 2022 through to November 2023.
Suncor has taken water quality samples of the pond, the results of which indicate the water spilled into the river was “within release criteria parameters for discharge,” the AER said.
The pond the water was released from “is not related to mining, extraction or tailings processes, and contains precipitation and snow melt water,” it said.
Suncor and the AER have informed communities and stakeholders in the area, the regulator said, and Environment and Climate Change Canada has also been notified.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2023.
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