AER Refuses to Reconsider Weak Penalty for Kearl Mine Tailings spill

July 16, 2025

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• Oil and Gas
• Oil Sands

In 2022 and 2023, Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands site leaked millions of litres of toxic talings into the environment, contaminating land and water beyond its lease boundaries and into the territories of Indigenous Nations. Despite early knowledge of the leak, neither Imperial Oil nor the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) informed affected Indigenous communities until nearly a year later.

In July 2024, the AER issued a fine of just $50,000, a penalty representing around 0.004% of Imperial Oil’s quarterly profits. This stands in contrast to the AER’s authority to issue a fine of $1.3 million under its own regulations.

In November 2024, Ecojustice on behalf of AWA, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Keepers of the Water, the Council of Canadians Edmonton Chapter, Environmental Defence Canada, and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, formally requested that the AER reconsider the penalty and apply the law to its full extent. This month, we received the AER’s response: it has refused to revisit the decision, claiming the circumstances do not amount to “exceptional or compelling grounds”.

This denial is deeply disappointing, but not unsurprising. The AER’s continued refusal to hold polluters accountable, even in the face of severe environmental harm and regulatory failure, signals a systemic breakdown in environmental governance in Alberta.

Read the AER’s full response here.