No reported wildlife, water affected from Imperial Oil leak in Alberta, company says

COLD LAKE – Imperial Oil says there have been no reported effects to wildlife or open waterbodies from a pipeline leak of crude bitumen in eastern Alberta.

Company spokeswoman Lisa Schmidt says the pipeline leaked a bitumen emulsion — a mixture of the heavy crude oil, bitumen and water — within the company’s leased area northwest of Cold Lake on April 9.

Cold Lake is near the Saskatchewan boundary, about 240 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

The Alberta Energy Regulator’s website says 843,000 litres of fluid leaked from the pipeline, with about 172,000 litres of it being crude bitumen and 671,000 litres produced water. Produced water can be contaminated with salt, oil or other substances.

“We are sorry this incident has occurred; cleanup and remediation activities are underway,” Schmidt wrote in an email Thursday.

She said the release was stopped and contained and that representatives from Cold Lake First Nations have visited the site. 

Chief and council said in an email the leak raises “serious and ongoing concerns regarding the effectiveness of Alberta’s regulatory oversight and its ability to protect our lands, waters and Treaty rights.”

“This is another example of how existing provincial regulatory practices continue to fall short in safeguarding the interests of First Nations.”

They said they’ll be bringing concerns to the province to ensure the spill is properly remediated.

They’re also advising community members to avoid the area as a precaution.

The regulator said its inspectors are overseeing the response and cleanup and that recovery efforts were about 90 per cent finished.

Snow fencing has also been placed around the perimeter to restrict wildlife access and act as a bird deterrent, it said.

Regulator inspectors and Imperial representatives are investigating the cause of the leak.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2026.