The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, July 4, edition that Fort McKay First Nation director of sustainability Alvaro Pinto wants Alberta's energy regulator to follow its own oil sands rules. A Canadian Press dispatch to the Post reports that Mr. Pinto does not understand how the agency can say it is going to enforce one thing, then allow industry to do something else.
Mr. Pinto, an environmental engineer, said: "We are very disappointed. The Alberta Energy Regulator is simply ignoring its own directive."
Since last fall, the regulator has given interim approval to five plans for remediating oil sands tailings ponds. The approvals have come despite the regulator's own reservations.
Spokesmen for the agency say the approvals are not the final word and deficiencies must be addressed. They say the public is being protected and industry needs time and flexibility to come up with a solution it has already spent billions searching for.
However, with two more decisions to come, critics are increasingly concerned the province is drifting toward methods that no one is sure will fix significant environmental problems. The government has heard calls to bring in hard targets for remediation and penalties for failure.
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