Indigenous leaders raise concerns over contamination at Transport Canada dock

Indigenous leaders in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., are raising concerns the federal government did not inform them about contamination at a Transport Canada dock.

The government says they looked into it in 2017, but the leaders say they just became aware of it this year.

“This dock is in the middle of our community. Our kids swim there, people eat berries from the land and bring it to the shores of the big dock. There’s fish there. It is also close to the water intake for the town’s drinking water. We even have fishing derbies every year,” Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam said in a virtual press conference to members of the media Wednesday morning.

“All things Transport Canada was aware of, but never told us of the contamination,” he claimed.

The issue came to light in the spring, when the Athasbasca Chipewyan First Nation contacted Ottawa to dredge the dock following low water levels and the threat of wildfires in the area.

Fort Chipeywan is an isolated community with no roads in and out of the area. Their only escape in the event of evacuation emergencies is by plane or water.

Their request to dredge the dock was denied.

The community enlisted a contractor to see if they could do the work themselves. It was that third-party group that learned about the federal government’s 2017 health risk assessment.

This came as a surprise to the First Nation.

“This is a cover-up. This is environmental racism,” Chief Allan Adam said.

“For seven years this was swept under the rug and if we didn’t ask a contractor to look, this would still be swept under the rug,” Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro said.

Transport Canada confirmed that in 2017 they commissioned a Human Health Preliminary Quantitative Risk Assessment & Technological Risk Assessment.

“The RA (Risk Assessment) investigated risks to human health and wildlife, and the study determined that the site was not likely to pose any risks to human health,” the statement read.

“The RA was completed by a qualified environmental professional, with appropriate certifications, following industry standards, including guidance published by Health Canada and the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan. The RA also considered a variety of uses such as, swimming and fishing,” the statement added.

Under the Government of Canada’s Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory list, the Fort Chipewyan Public Port Facility is classified as “Medium Priority for Action”. Their findings show petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metal, metalloid and organometallic were found in the soil and sediment. The area of contamination stretches 2,050 cubic metres.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation says the risk assessments did take into account a variety of uses, including fishing and swimming.

They add that the process of dredging would move contaminated sediment, which is why the dredging cannot take place at this time. Work is ongoing to figure out the best path forward to remediate the sediment at the site.

“Our Government is working with the local First Nations community to ensure that operations at the port facility are carried out safely. Remote and Indigenous communities must have access to the safe and reliable connectivity that they need,” their response read via statement.

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The Fort Chipeywan Indigenous leaders provided a subsequent report.

The more than 400-page document, conducted by EGE Engineering Ltd., showed elements such as mercury, nickel, and arsenic found in the soil, sediment, and groundwater.

“This indicates that adverse biological effects are possible, but not probable,” the report read.

Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro says the federal government has been keen on keeping reconciliation in mind, but he calls this appalling.

“It’s sad because the federal government always talks up truth and reconciliation yet they cannot be truthful to something that’s so important to us and that’s the health of our water,” Chief Tuccaro said.

Fort Chipewyan Metis President Kendrick Cardinal adds that the community wishes they’d been informed a lot earlier regarding their traditional hunting and fishing lands.

“I believe in moving forward, we need to have defining moments as to how we adjust our relationship. It’s important that we acknowledge the inherent rights of the Indigenous people of Fort Chipewyan and how important it is to them to have access to on-the-land activities and to be able to provide for their families like they have done for centuries,” Chief Cardinal said.

“I am open to options, clear community dialogue, and having all parties at the table.”

This is not the first time the First Nation has had to manage contaminations. This is the same community that found out last year about wastewater leaking from a tailings pond site — nine months after it happened.

In May 2022, the seepage was reported to First Nations and communities as discoloured water pooling on the surface. They received little information after that until last February, when the regulator issued environmental protection orders against Imperial — and then only after 5.3 million litres of contaminated wastewater escaped from a holding pond.

“It is, I guess, aligned with the Imperial incident because information was withheld. But this time it’s on a grander scale. This is over years. Not nine months. For them to sweep this under the rug, it’s something that we cannot take lightly,” Chief Billy Joe-Tuccaro said.

The community has also been flagged for having higher-than-average cancer rates.

“Fort Chipewyan is already well known for as a community stricken by cancer at the rate twice that of the rest of Alberta. The fact that they deliberately withheld this information is outstanding,” Chief Allan Adam said.

“You guys want us to move forward? Be honest and truthful with us. Because the rate we’re going now, people are getting sick,” Chief Tuccaro added.

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