In what community leaders call yet another blow to transparency in Fort Chipewyan, documents reveal Transport Canada withheld crucial environmental studies about contamination at the federally owned wharf — adding to a pattern of governmental authorities and industry concealing critical health and safety information from the northern Alberta community. 

“They (Transport Canada) knew of the findings seven years ago and yet they refused to tell the leadership or the community members of what was in there,” said Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam during an interview with Ricochet Media.

“Knowing that what was happening since way back when with the health risk issues in the community, it just goes to show that they want to continue to cover up what is going on in the region.”

Two key federal studies from 2017 leaked to Fort Chipewyan leadership and obtained by Ricochet Media, reveal significant concerns about contamination at the wharf. While the Phase 3 Environmental Site Assessment was publicly released, a subsequent Preliminary Quantitative Human Health Risk Assessment (PQ HHRA) was not.

The Phase 3 assessment had several critical flaws, including: incomplete soil contamination delineation; missing surface water samples; incomplete sediment contamination analysis and questionable groundwater sampling procedures.

The PQ HHRA’s assumptions were particularly problematic because it classified the area as commercial use only and limited human exposure analysis to just two pathways (groundwater drinking and vapor inhalation), while notably excluding Indigenous community activities like fishing, swimming and traditional medicine gathering. 

Recent statements by Transport Canada and Transport Minister Anita Anand’s office claiming “no risk to human health” and consideration of activities like swimming and fishing appear to contradict the actual content of their own 2017 studies. 

The document indicates these activities were explicitly not included in the risk analysis.

Fort Chipewyan is made up of a majority of Metis and First Nations people of whom nearly 80 per cent live off the land.  Most of the locals swim at the dock and beach area in the summer. 

“My kids, my grandchildren, swam in that water. I swam there. People fish from the docks around the area, you still see them every now and then, you see people fishing at the dock and all along the shores of Fort Chip. So how do you tell the community you can’t go swimming in Lake Athabasca anymore? And what about the water intake that’s just 300 yards from the shore where the contaminant levels are high? All these things need to be answered,” said Adam. 

In a statement emailed to Ricochet Media, Transport Canada said the 2017 Phase 3 Environmental Site Assessment of its wharf was completed following industry standards. 

“Transport Canada has consistently managed contamination at the port facility to protect human health and the environment,” wrote Sau Sau Liu, Transport Canada, Senior Communications Advisor, Media Services. 

“Acknowledging community concerns, we are actively reviewing the previous environmental assessments to determine necessary updates. Transport Canada, in collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), is working to engage a qualified environmental professional to assist with this review,” Liu states.

“Transport Canada is committed to involving the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation. Initial discussions have been initiated to involve these groups in scoping future studies and developing work plans and timelines.”

However, as of the end of October Chief Adam said there had been “vague communication” received from Transport Canada since Fort Chipewyan first learned the wharf area was contaminated in early October. Local leadership only found out about the toxins after obtaining a document from a local contractor hired to dredge it. 

This spring the ACFN, Mikisew Cree, and Fort Chipewyan Metis leadership requested Transport Canada to dredge the dock area to make it more accessible for boats in case of emergency, such as when the community was forced to evacuate in 2023 due to wildfire. Chief Adam said Transport Canada refused to dredge the area but gave the go-ahead for local leadership to do it themselves. Transport Canada also offered to transfer ownership of the dock to the hamlet of Fort Chipewyan. 

“So, we hired a contractor and he went and got all the material. Then the contractor came back to us and said, ‘I can’t do nothing because this is all contaminated’. And that’s how we found out. Now we got the government on the hook and everybody’s backpedalling,” said Adam.  

“Transport Canada tried to give it to the community, and all the liabilities and risks go with it. And we fought, we said, ‘no, we’re not going to take the liability of this. Just give us the money and we’ll fix it up.’ And we weren’t aware of the situation. Now we’re fully aware of the situation, and I could honestly say that I’m glad that we never took the liability.”

Following a meeting between Fort Chipewyan leaders and Transport Canada on November 6, Transport Canada agreed to pay for the remediation of the contaminated wharf. This was confirmed to Ricochet Media by Transport Canada. 

In a statement from the Office of the Minister of Transport: “Minister Anand spoke with the First Nations to hear their concerns directly. In response to the concerns raised by the First Nations, Transport Canada will accelerate work to remediate the uplands portion of the land, and will work collaboratively with the First Nations to update the 2017 risk assessment for the in-water contamination. An updated risk assessment will inform next steps with regards to remediation.”

Chief Adam applauds the decision, “Last week we finally spoke with Transport Minister Anand, and I have to say that we are very encouraged. The Minister unreservedly apologized for the behavior of her department and committed that wouldn’t happen again,” he said in a statement to Ricochet Media. 

“We are now collaborating on a path forward that includes Transport Canada paying to remediate the harbour and dock, establishing a temporary dock for egress purposes during construction and a new Indigenous led environmental assessment all within a year. 

Adam says he is feeling optimistic, but will remain vigilant and skeptical of any promises made by the government of Canada.

“The three communities will work together to make sure Transport Canada is held to account.”

Mandy Olsgard is an Alberta-based toxicologist and risk assessor who has worked extensively with Fort Chipewyan leadership over several years to analyze potential contaminants there. She says Transport Canada is potentially in violation of federal contaminated sites protocols. The protocols are managed under the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, which requires landowners and nearby residents to be notified, and land use to be identified, based on human health protection. 

“They (Transport Canada) had to make a conscious decision not to notify the public,” said Olsgard during an interview with Ricochet Media. 

Although pollutants around wharfs in Canada are common, noted Olsgard, (due to the nature of the industrial activities that happen there), the site in Fort Chipewyan was first designated in 2014 as a class-two medium priority contaminated site under the Conservative government. That classification required Transport Canada to undertake management actions, which it did not. 

Chemicals in the soil and water tested above the guidelines for protecting aquatic life, including Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). 

 “A class two is not low priority. There’s soil contamination and each is a different class of chemicals. There are other areas they did not sample or investigate,” she said.

Olsgard and her team at Integrated Toxicology Solutions conducted a study in Fort Chipewyan to better understand the dangers  posed to community members. They surveyed individuals, gathered and interpreted data and predicted the wharf area exposed residents to risk. 

“We proved community members are interacting with the sediment, the water, the foods, the medicines around Big Dock and that showed the federal government’s study was inaccurate. Now, I think the risks are low from chronic exposure,” she said. “But how sediments interact with plants and how chemicals move through food webs, that’s where I start to get concerned. Such as how plants like mint or rat root or fish interact with the sediments, that’s where I would want to see a more detailed risk assessment completed that actually considers people.

“I think there needs to be a legal investigation and then a technical investigation based on my review.”

Olsgard suspects the source of contamination is multi-faceted. Impacts from the oil sands region upstream as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons via forest fires contribute to the local toxins culminating around Fort Chipewyan’s shores. 

“Lake Athabasca is like a sink for all the chemicals in the area, they flow into it. It’s not related only to the local wharf activities. You would need to do a detailed investigation to understand the portion that’s coming from oil sands, the portion that’s coming from forest fires, the portion that’s coming from the wharf activities.”

For decades, high rates of rare cancers and other diseases have plagued the community of less than 1,000. Many have linked their ailments to industrial activity via the oil sands. Leaders such as Chief Adam have scrutinized authorities for indifference on the issue.  

“People are mentally disturbed here. When you have people dying in the community from sicknesses and ailments, the mental capability of people tends to break down. And I’m talking from experience here because both my dad and father-in-law did pass away from cancer.  Everybody’s upset,” said Adam. 

The people of Fort Chipewyan have experienced one environmental nightmare after another. It reached a critical point in February 2023 when Indigenous leaders learned of one of Alberta’s largest-ever tailings releases — 5.3 million litres of contaminated water from Imperial Oil’s Kearl Mine, just 75 kilometers upstream. 

The toxic leak from the bitumen mine, which processes 240,000 barrels daily, breached a containment system designed to isolate dangerous byproducts including arsenic, naphthenic acids, and hydrocarbons. 

Imperial Oil confirmed the contamination spread across five hectares, seeping into the boreal muskeg and nearby waterways. Although Imperial Oil knew of the spill nine months prior, local leadership only discovered the crisis through an Environmental Protection Order issued by the Alberta Energy Regulator in early February. Adding to the controversy, documents obtained by the Canadian Press in March revealed provincial authorities had delayed initiating emergency response for a month after learning about the spill — only acting after First Nations chiefs like Adam publicly exposed the information blackout. 

Water testing from the Kearl spill showed levels of arsenic, sulphates, and various hydrocarbons — including kerosene, creosote, and diesel — exceeding both federal and provincial safety guidelines.

Then in March, Chief Adam served the Alberta Energy Regulator CEO Laurie Pusher with a $500 million lawsuit claiming the regulator failed to inform the First Nation about the leaks. 

The lawsuit alleges “negligence, nuisance, breach of the duty to consult, breach of the Honour of the Crown, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjustified Treaty infringement.” This latest incident echoes a troubling history of delayed disclosure affecting the community. 

Dr. John O’Connor, who served Fort Chipewyan as a physician for nearly 16 years, faced accusations of raising “undue alarm” after reporting elevated cancer rates among residents. Though later vindicated — with the Alberta Cancer Board confirming cancer rates were 30 percent higher than expected — his experience highlights a pattern of dismissing community health concerns. O’Connor, who now practices in Fort McKay First Nation and Fort McMurray, had noticed disproportionate illness rates among his Fort Chipewyan patients early in his practice. 

Upon reviewing the PQ HHRA, Dr. O’Connor said he is “furious.”

“It’s extremely disappointing, the inexplicable deficiencies, and delays in reporting. Why?” Dr. O’Connor commented via email to Ricochet. 

“Is it an attempt to brush it all off, to hide it? The partial list of contaminants contains nine carcinogenic chemicals. Expert consensus on exposure is that there is no safe level of exposure to carcinogens.”

He likens the treatment of Fort Chipewyan to racism. 

“The decades-long exposure Fort Chip has endured from upstream tar sands mining. This community is suffering the consequences of outrageously blatant environmental racism,” he said. 

“This latest revelation is further evidence of just how Canada regards its Indigenous people. After decades of Traditional Knowledge testament, supported by white man’s science, and incontrovertible evidence of deliberate destruction emanating from upstream mining, Canada, owned as it is by Big Oil cartels, continues to choose to sacrifice Indigenous people for the sake of profit.”

Anna McIntosh, a staff lawyer at Eco-Justice, Canada’s largest environmental law charity specializing in taking governments and polluters to court, has worked with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and read the PQ HHRA, said Transport Canada’s failure to inform the community about the contaminants is a breach of the Crown’s duty to engage honourably with Indigenous Peoples.

“The honour of the Crown is a fundamental constitutional obligation that guides the conduct of the Crown in all of its dealings with Indigenous Peoples,” she said during an interview with Ricochet Media. 

“For example, under Treaty 8, First Nations were promised the right to hunt, trap, fish, and engage in their way of life in a healthy environment, which appears to have been violated here. And outside of Indigenous rights, looking to common law obligations in Canada, the federal government likely had a duty of care under the tort of negligence to notify these communities of the contamination.”

McIntosh pointed to the ACFN lawsuit against the AER for failure to inform and noted that the federal government should be on “heightened” notice.

“It’s even more important that at this point in time the federal government step up and own up to this,” McIntosh said.

In June, Bill C-226, the National Strategy on Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act, became law in Canada. It requires the government to develop Canada’s first national action plan addressing environmental racism and justice by analyzing how race and socioeconomic status correlate with environmental risks. This legislation responds to concerning findings, including a 2020 UN Special Rapporteur report that identified a “toxic divide” in Canada, where Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized groups endure environmental conditions deemed unacceptable in other parts of the country.  

“This is a serious issue. This systemic failure we’re seeing (in Fort Chipewyan) is important to address in this context,” said McIntosh.

Transport Canada said it’s collaborating with Environment and Climate Change Canada on a recently announced community-led health study in the Athabasca oil sands region.

However, leadership in Fort Chipewyan is calling on Transport Canada to immediately rectify the site so the community can feel at ease. 

“Nobody wants to take the blame for what is happening upstream from our community, and therefore, we are left with unanswered questions in relation to health issues, other mental ailments,” said Adam.

”I am disappointed that I still have to continue to fight and push. All I want to do is resolve this issue so we can have a safe community to raise our kids properly and have a chance to be a part of Canadian society.”