Challenges continue at Imperial Oil’s Kearl Oilsands Site.

On March 10 Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a Fisheries Act Direction to Imperial Oil after inspecting the Kearl site on March 8.

Environment Canada says that the seep at Kearl is believed to be deleterious or harmful to fish. The direction requires Imperial to take immediate action to contain the seep and prevent it from entering fish-bearing waters.

Lisa Schmidt, spokesperson for Imperial Oil says the company continues to progress on its plans to address the seepage issue. She says they are responding to the direction provided by Environment Canada officials, and have installed surface water pumps in the area to prevent seepage from entering fish-bearing waters.

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is issuing a statement expressing their concerns over the impact on fish habitat. They say that the findings of Environment Canada are consistent with what their own inspectors witnessed when visiting Kearl.

In their statement, ACFN says the Alberta Energy Regulator has lost all credibility and that they now need to use all legal tools at their disposal to take control of the investigation and cleanup.