Commons committee plans to examine contamination at Fort Chipewyan, Alta., dock

A House of Commons committee willstudy the issue of contaminated soil at a federal dock in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., afterIndigenous community leaders saidthe government kept them in the dark about it.

Earlier this month, leaders of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Fort Chipewyan Mtis Nationreleased a joint statement accusing the federal government of hiding a 2017 Transport Canada report that outlined the contaminants found in the soil near the dockon Lake Athabasca.

On Monday in Ottawa at a meeting ofthe Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, NDP MP Laurel Collins introduced a motion for the committee to hold meetings in November on this issue.

"Hearing those calls to action from the nations and from the community, I wanted to make sure that this is brought into the light, that we can hold the ministers responsible for their inaction," said Collins.

"This is a violation of Indigenous treaty rights the government's responsibility to protect human health,to protect communities."

The motion outlines that if the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities opts not to study the issue, the environment committee will askseveral ministers to speak to theissue, including those from Transport, Environment and Climate Change, Emergency Preparedness, Indigenous Services, and Crown-Indigenous Relations.

"I'm satisfied with the NDP putting a motion forward that forces the Liberal government to address the issue that we're having with the big dock," said Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam.

"They have to commence some kind of study to fix the problem."

Adam would also be invited to speak in front of the committee, along with Mikisew Cree Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaroand Fort Chipewyan Mtis Nation President Kendrick Cardinal, on how the incident is affectingtheir communities.

Contractor finds 2017 assessment

Fort Chipewyan has no all-season road; the community depends on its airport and the dock for transportation. In recent yearsLake Athabasca has hadlow water levelsand community leadershadasked Transport Canada to dredge the area for safe use of the dock, to no result.

So they decided to do it themselves.

"Once we found a suitable contractor to get the job done, he started applying for the permits and [an] environmental assessment," said Adam.

"He found out that the environmental assessment was done in 2017 That's how we found out about this whole mess."

Thatassessment, done by Millennium EMS Solutions, examined levels ofhydrocarbons andheavy metals in the soil, sediment and groundwater in the dock area.That assessment concluded that wells within 60 metres of the dock would need further examination.

In a previous statement to CBCNews, Transport Canada said the 2017 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."

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation commissioned its own studies of the area, including one done by Stantecthat found hydrocarbon and metal contaminationin the sediment at the bottom of the dock, and metal contamination of the water.

"Transport Canada doesn't know what to do because they didn't take any studies to remediate the problem, they thought it would just go away without anything coming out of it," said Adam.

"Now we're stuck and we've got to deal with it because we're not going to let this go away."

For Collins, what has happened at Fort Chipewyanis an example of environmental racism.

"You'd hope after voting in favour of the National Strategy on Environmental Racism that they would take this issue seriously, but clearly they haven't because they have not taken action," said Collins.

In July, alaw was passed that requires the federal government to better track environmental racism, and aim to correct it.

"I can't really describe the disbelief and disappointment that I feel when I see this kind of government inaction and lack of accountability," said Collins.

Adams saidhis community wants to see the soil near the dock remediated, to ensure that there is no risk to people using the lake.

"We've put out warnings in the community, don't go swimming down by the big dock, or at the beachfront or any other areas until we determine how to fix the problem," said Adam.

"Transport Canada's got lots of money so they could clean up this mess.They created it now help solve it."

In an emailed statement, the office of Transport Minister Anita Anand saidshe has not yet received an invitationto speak to the committee.

"Our government is working to ensure that operations at the port facility are carried out safely,"the statement reads.

"Remote and Indigenous communities must have access to the safe and reliable connectivity that they need."