Alberta Energy Regulator fines company $456K for providing misleading, false information

Jack Farrell · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 26, 2025 1:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

The Alberta Energy Regulator has fined a institution $456,000 for submitting mendacious oregon misleading accusation successful its applications for reclamation approval.

In a determination published Friday, the regulator says CEPro Energy and Environmental Services submitted 5 certificate applications successful 2023 that were incomplete, portion 2 contained mendacious oregon misleading information.

The determination doesn't specify what accusation was falsified but says providing misleading accusation is simply a large contravention of provincial law.

"Such actions compromise regulatory oversight and forestall the extortion of the situation by obstructing the AER's quality to ensure, successful this case, that onshore reclamation is conducted decently and restored to equivalent onshore use," the determination says.

The regulator is liable for signing disconnected connected the enactment companies undertake to instrumentality onshore to its archetypal state. If the regulator considers the enactment complete, it issues reclamation certificates.

"By providing mendacious oregon misleading information, the AER cannot verify whether a tract has been decently reclaimed, expanding the hazard that contaminated soil, residual pollutants oregon improperly restored onshore whitethorn spell undetected," the determination reads.

"This tin pb to semipermanent biology degradation, specified arsenic ungraded erosion, h2o contamination and situation destruction, which whitethorn negatively interaction section ecosystems, wildlife and aboriginal onshore use."

The determination says the good against CEPro is for 150 abstracted issues. However, each contravention was not individually assessed for imaginable harm.

"While imaginable adverse effects are imaginable and could beryllium of significance, successful this circumstantial lawsuit the imaginable adverse effects are unknown," the determination says.

"Given the benignant of accusation provided successful the reclamation applications, the imaginable for adverse effect is classified arsenic 'minor to none."'

The good includes $75,000 due to the fact that CEPro didn't antecedently supply required accusation connected reclamation certificate applications successful 2020.

The regulator besides says it hasn't been capable to interaction CEPro officials successful astir 2 years. The company's known telephone fig was disconnected and message sent to 1 of 2 addresses was returned arsenic undeliverable.

The regulator said successful a connection Friday that CEPro submitted the applications "on behalf of" Everest Canadian Resources Corp.

Everest, a Calgary-based lipid and state company, was ordered to halt operations 1 period aft CEPro submitted the 2023 applications. It was besides ordered to springiness up its assets for failing to run successful an acceptable manner.