Ten-Year Study Begins on Oilsands Health Impacts in Fort Chipewyan

A federally funded study is underway to investigate the health impacts of oilsands industrial development on the Indigenous community of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, as CBC News first reported. Named Project Monument Hill, the 10-year, $12-million initiative will analyze historical and current health data, monitor the environment, and study local disease patterns.

Community members have spent over two decades seeking answers regarding links between regional cancer rates and upstream industrial sites along the Athabasca River. These include Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills mine and Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine, the latter of which CBC News reports experienced a 5.3-million-litre wastewater spill in 2023. The study will be overseen by the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN), the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), and the Métis Nation, with the federal government serving as an observer.

While the project aims to combine Indigenous knowledge with western science, some argue the process is too slow. Dr. John O’Connor, who has raised alarms about cancer in the region since 2006, told CBC News that the 10-year timeline is too long given the alarming number of patients he treated as a physician.

Past efforts to quantify the health toll have been contested. A 2009 Alberta Cancer Board study found some cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan were 30% higher than the provincial average. Conversely, a 2014 report by then-chief medical officer of health Dr. James Talbot found higher instances of lung, cervical, and bile duct cancers but concluded overall rates were not significantly higher than expected, attributing the numbers to lifestyle factors and a lack of medical resources. Callie Davies-Flett of the ACFN noted that previous reports often failed to count residents who left the community to seek cancer treatment.