Parks Canada says it’s working on tailings threat to Wood Buffalo

Work is moving forward to evaluate the risk oil sands tailings pose to Wood Buffalo National Park, Parks Canada says – as demanded by Indigenous communities in the area.

An evaluation of the risk posed by oil sands tailings was a key recommendation made by Unesco inspectors after they visited the park in 2022 to determine if it should be added to the list of World Heritage sites in danger.

At the time, the inspectors described the need for the assessment as urgent saying it should be complete before the end of 2024.

Chief Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, which is based in the park and broader Athabasca Delta, said progress on the project is “long overdue,” describing the downstream risks Alberta oil sands tailings pose through incidents such as dam breaches and seepage.

Chief Lepine referenced incidents such as spills at Imperial Oil’s Kearl site, north of Fort McMurray, as examples of harm caused by the industry.

She also voiced concern about the possible practice of releasing treated tailings into waterways, which is being considered in Alberta.

Parks Canada has an action plan to protect the park from various threats. Janna Jaque, action plan manager for Parks Canada, told Cabin Radio draft terms of reference for the tailings risk assessment were distributed to partner First Nations for feedback in July.

Once those terms of reference have been finalized, she said, the project will move to a contract phase.

“We’re looking for that risk assessment to assess the risk of the outstanding universal value of Wood Buffalo National Park, and really making sure that it’s credible, independent, and developed collaboratively with partners, including Indigenous nations,” said Jaque.

She said Parks Canada hopes to sign a contract for the risk assessment in the coming months.

Asked what might happen if the eventual assessment determines treated tailings present an elevated risk to the park, Jaque said decisions about what to do next would involve multiple jurisdictions.

Lepine said she and the First Nation are still reviewing the terms of reference before comments are due on October 1.

Jaque said feedback received from First Nations and partner organizations will help determine the scope of the risk assessment.

Assessment of danger

Representatives from Unesco and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature are conducting their latest inspection of the national park to assess whether it is endangered.

Currently, the only site on Unesco’s list of threatened locations in Canada and the United States is Florida’s Everglades National Park, due to the “serious and continuing degradation of its aquatic ecosystem,” caused initially by a hurricane and worsened by agriculture and urban development.

After an initial inspection of Wood Buffalo in 2016, Parks Canada assigned $87 million to an action plan, released in 2019, to defend the park against threats ranging from climate change to industrial pollution.

The actions in that initial plan expire this year. A broader federal nature strategy released earlier in 2026 commits an additional $90 million to extend work over the next five years.

Jaque said this work will include species conservation and hydrological restoration.

She said one proposed project will look to release additional water from dam reservoirs on the Peace River to increase the water displaced through ice jams in the spring and replenish the Peace-Athabasca Delta.

Since the last inspection, Jaque said, progress has been made to strengthen partnerships with First Nations and bolster an integrated research and monitoring program.

That program “focuses on the braiding of Indigenous knowledge and Western science, and it has taken a number of years to really work together to get this program up and running,” said Jaque.

She said the program has indicators co-developed with Indigenous partners, “so we are together assessing what really matters to the health of the Peace-Athabasca Delta.”