By Bryan Eneas

‘We’re at a standstill in negotiations’: James Smith Cree Nation’s clean-up woes continue

Oct 29, 2016 | 8:33 AM

After a promising start to clean-up efforts in the James Smith Cree Nation’s traditional lands, negotiations with Husky have come to a halt.

According to Chief Robert Head from Peter Chapman First Nation, clean-up crews found 27 different areas affected by oil.

“We had discussions with Husky Oil on what the next steps were,” Head said. “They came back at us and said that they wanted to leave the oil on the bank in place and let nature take its course and disperse the oil over time.”

The 27 piles in question contain pieces of debris, logs, and other articles from the river bank which contain oil, according to Head. The Cree Nation is asking Husky Energy to return their lands to the condition they were in before oil rolled through the community in August.

“The First Nation wants the entire river system cleaned of oil, and Husky Oil wants to leave as much oil on the river bank as possible,” Head said. “We’re at a standstill in negotiations there.”

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Head explained the last meeting between officials from James Smith and the energy company were held one week after clean-up crews identified Husky’s oil on Cree Nation lands.

Head said a conference call was set up between Husky, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, and Environment Canada, where it was decided it was safe to leave the oil behind.

“The First Nation wasn’t involved in that conversation,” Head said. “They came to the (last) meeting on (October 3) with a decision on what to do with this oil, prior to the First Nation having any discussion or involvement in that decision.”

Head said officials from Environment Canada and the Ministry of Environment then explained to members of James Smith it was okay to leave some oil behind.

Head explained chief and council are looking into a clean-up and monitoring program for the river. He said water and sediment samples will be collected frequently, and wild and aquatic life around the river will continue to be observed.

“We have so much planned to protect the environment from the First Nations perspective, it’s just we’re having this roadblock with Husky,” Head said. “I don’t think they appreciate the fact that we use our river and the river basin so much, and we rely on it so much.”

He said it would take officials from Husky drinking the polluted waters for them to understand just how terrible it is for the animals who rely on the river.

“It’s the animals that are affected most in this whole process. Because we rely on the animals to feed ourselves, we’re the ones who are getting the effects after the fact,” Head said.

Head said he doesn’t know if Husky will ever come to terms with James Smith Cree Nation’s point of view on this problem.

“We’re still pushing to have all the oil removed, and we’re hoping that Husky Oil will come around and see our point of view,” Head said. “We didn’t contaminate the river. We didn’t contaminate our own lands, and therefore we have a right to have this oil removed.”

Bryan.eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas