Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - August 7, 2024 - Indigenous leaders in northern Alberta are seeking funding to understand if pollution from the oilsands is making their people sick.

The federal government is funding a study to trace potential contaminants from oilsands operations to better understand the long-term health and environmental impacts.

Studies have shown higher rates of cancers in communities along the shores of Lake Athabasca, fed by the Athabasca River. Other studies have found unsafe levels of arsenic, mercury, and hydrocarbons in the area's water, fish, sediments, and surrounding wildlife.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault visited the region this week, where leaders from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation identified some of their concerns.

The study, which will be funded with $12 million over the decade, will trace potential contaminants from oilsands operations to better understand the long-term health and environmental impacts.

Kendrick Cardinal, president of the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation, said that it is important to hold industry accountable for what's happening in their community.

The 10-year time frame for the study is lengthy, but work is underway to better regulate releases from oilsands and a Crown-Indigenous working group is investigating what to do with existing tailings ponds.

If the study finds the oilsands are impacting the health of the community, the government would have to act further. Guilbeault hopes the province and companies would then work with the federal government to put in place even more stringent measures from an environmental and health point of view.