The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Nov. 22, edition that Imperial Oil's Kearl oil sands facility is again under the scrutiny of the Alberta Energy Regulator after hundreds of thousands of litres of water from a settling pond poured into the Muskeg River. The Globe's Emma Graney writes that the most recent incident at Kearl happened on Nov. 13, following two other incidents early this year. The total suspended solids in the water that escaped reached about 140 milligrams per litre -- more than four times the legal limit of 30 mg/l set by the AER. About 670 cubic metres of water was released into the Muskeg River or about 670,000 litres. This most recent incident will have less environmental impact than the previous two. The release from an oil sands settlement pond is not the first this year. In April, almost six million litres of water with more than twice the legal limit of suspended solids escaped from a pond at Suncor Energy's Fort Hills oil sands project. Imperial spokesman Lisa Schmidt said the incident at Kearl last week was caused by erosion of a culvert. The water itself was already treated and ready for release, she said, but soil got into it when the culvert eroded.