Auditor General Merwan Saher slammed an initial oilsands report for being 15 months late. An oilsands project is seen in this file photo near Fort McMurray. Photograph by:Jeff Mcintosh, The Canadian Press
EDMONTON — Two days after the auditor general criticized a report on oilsands environmental monitoring as inaccurate and misleading, a followup report has been released claiming all is well.
In his October audit, Merwan Saher slammed the initial oilsands report for being 15 months late and missing “key information.” He also found management of the monitoring program projects to be “weak,” lacking detailed work plans, timelines, progress reports and reviews.
But the second annual report of the Canada-Alberta Joint Oilsands Monitoring program says the Alberta government “made notable progress in creating conditions for achieving commitments made under the joint implementation plan.”
It says the program, which is now being run by the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA), achieved most of the monitoring commitments it set out to achieve last year, with the glaring exception of tailings pond testing and examining dead birds found on oilsands sites.
Prasad Valupadas, AEMERA project director, said in an interview Thursday the new monitoring agency that took over from Alberta Environment last April accepts the auditor general’s criticism, but the new report reflects many changes that have been made.
“We’re learning from some of the comments,” he said. “Our folks need to be more diligent in what they’re saying and how they are responding to requests for information.”
He said it was difficult in the first year to acquire information on the progress of monitoring, when many of the monitoring organizations participating in the program were funded directly by industry. Since then, the province has passed legislation to ensure the $50 million committed by industry is collected and allocated by the province.
AEMERA also addressed the criticism over the lateness of its reporting by separating its scientific data from the reporting of its success in meeting its annual commitments.
Valupadas said a scientific report will be released in December.
The report released Thursday mentions challenges faced in its efforts to include traditional ecological knowledge in its monitoring operations, but doesn’t report that five First Nations and aboriginal groups in the oilsands immediate area have walked away from the process.
Valapadas said the point of contention is an aboriginal demand for decision-making authority. But he said discussions are ongoing.
The difficulty monitoring oilsands tailings ponds and bird mortality is related to logistics and safety, he said.
“It has just been the logistical issues and the timing issues of when industry staff are available to support those programs. That’s been most of the delay,” he said. “We will be monitoring tailings ponds.”