{"id":108914,"date":"2026-09-22T08:28:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=108914"},"modified":"2026-09-22T08:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:29:31","slug":"keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News An Indigenous environmental organization focused on water protection is slamming the Alberta Energy Regulator\u2019s (AER) decision to exempt Suncor\u2019s plan to release millions of tonnes of tar sands tailings into the Athabasca River from an environmental impact assessment. \u201cThis is why we need federal oversight,\u201d Jesse Cardinal, executive director of Keepers of the Water, told Alberta Native News. \u201cThis is what happens when you offload all of this responsibility to the provinces.\u201d The exemption was first reported by online news outlet Canada\u2019s National Observer, which obtained a July 2026 letter from the AER to Suncor stating that the tailings release is not a \u201cmandatory activity for the purposes of environmental assessment.\u201d Alberta Native News has not independently viewed the AER\u2019s… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News An Indigenous environmental organization focused on water protection is slamming the Alberta Energy Regulator\u2019s (AER) decision to exempt Suncor\u2019s plan to release millions of tonnes of tar sands tailings into the Athabasca River from an environmental impact assessment. \u201cThis is why we need federal oversight,\u201d Jesse Cardinal, executive director of Keepers of the Water, told Alberta Native News. \u201cThis is what happens when you offload all of this responsibility to the provinces.\u201d The exemption was first reported by online news outlet Canada\u2019s National Observer, which obtained a July 2026 letter from the AER to Suncor stating that the tailings release is not a \u201cmandatory activity for the purposes of environmental assessment.\u201d Alberta Native News has not independently viewed the AER\u2019s... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nKeepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News An Indigenous environmental organization focused on water protection is slamming the Alberta Energy Regulator\u2019s (AER) decision to exempt Suncor\u2019s plan to release millions of tonnes of tar sands tailings into the Athabasca River from an environmental impact assessment. \u201cThis is why we need federal oversight,\u201d Jesse Cardinal, executive director of Keepers of the Water, told Alberta Native News. \u201cThis is what happens when you offload all of this responsibility to the provinces.\u201d The exemption was first reported by online news outlet Canada\u2019s National Observer, which obtained a July 2026 letter from the AER to Suncor stating that the tailings release is not a \u201cmandatory activity for the purposes of environmental assessment.\u201d Alberta Native News has not independently viewed the AER\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-22T12:28:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-22T12:29:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T12:28:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T12:29:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":924,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/\",\"name\":\"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-22T12:28:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-22T12:29:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/22\\\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News An Indigenous environmental organization focused on water protection is slamming the Alberta Energy Regulator\u2019s (AER) decision to exempt Suncor\u2019s plan to release millions of tonnes of tar sands tailings into the Athabasca River from an environmental impact assessment. \u201cThis is why we need federal oversight,\u201d Jesse Cardinal, executive director of Keepers of the Water, told Alberta Native News. \u201cThis is what happens when you offload all of this responsibility to the provinces.\u201d The exemption was first reported by online news outlet Canada\u2019s National Observer, which obtained a July 2026 letter from the AER to Suncor stating that the tailings release is not a \u201cmandatory activity for the purposes of environmental assessment.\u201d Alberta Native News has not independently viewed the AER\u2019s","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-09-22T12:28:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-22T12:29:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release","datePublished":"2026-09-22T12:28:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-22T12:29:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/"},"wordCount":924,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/","name":"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-09-22T12:28:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-22T12:29:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/keepers-of-the-water-slams-environmental-exemption-for-suncors-tailings-release\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Keepers of the Water slams environmental exemption for Suncor\u2019s tailings release"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108914"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108916,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108914\/revisions\/108916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}