An Indigenous-led water treatment venture in northern Alberta has secured a conditional grant commitment from Emissions Reduction Alberta to support commercial trials and testing of technologies designed to better treat oilsands process-affected water found in tailings ponds in the Athabasca region.
The new company, Tũ Nipi Water Solutions Ltd., is a partnership between BioLargo Canada and Fort McKay Oil Services, a registered First Nation company. The grant will support a $4.6-million project to test BioLargo’s advanced water treatment technologies, with commercial trials already underway in northern Alberta.
Commercial trials are already underway in northern Alberta, according to the companies, with BioLargo Canada primarily responsible for technology development.
The partnership comes as Alberta moves toward developing treatment technologies and science-based standards for oilsands process water. The province’s oilsands Mine Water Steering Committee has reported that Alberta’s tailings ponds contain more than 1.4 billion m³ of fluid tailings.
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The provincial government has accepted the committee’s recommendations to develop and pilot treatment technologies and establish standards for treated water.
“Clean water is the top priority of every Canadian Indigenous community and the regulatory environment is finally catching up to that,” said Ron Quintal, CEO of Tũ Nipi Water Solutions, in a statement. “Fort McKay has learned to balance energy while prioritizing the environment. This partnership is about bringing solutions to problems that our people have been asking about for a generation.”
BioLargo’s involvement in oilsands water treatment dates to 2011, when it became a founding industrial partner in the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Oil Sands Tailings Water Treatment at the University of Alberta.
The research program, which included oilsands producers, EPCOR, COSIA, Alberta Innovates and Alberta Environment, examined treatment approaches for persistent organic contaminants in oilsands process-affected water.
Through the new partnership, BioLargo Canada said it plans to combine multiple advanced water treatment technologies into treatment trains designed for complex wastewater streams.
Beyond oilsands applications, the partners have identified potential clients and an initial wastewater project involving BioLargo’s PFAS treatment and odour control technologies, which are under development for the proposed application.
BioLargo Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S.-based BioLargo Inc., is headquartered in Edmonton and develops water treatment technologies for industrial, municipal and environmental remediation applications.
“This is a venture led by First Nations people, in a community that has made embracing future generations its purpose, and we are honored to serve in it,” said Dennis Calvert, president and CEO of BioLargo Inc., in a statement. “Our company’s roots in this work are Canadian, and this is a return home. What we have today is a government pulling technology-based solutions like ours forward, a partner with real standing in the region, and a market that is ready to act.”
Tũ Nipi Water Solutions is based in Fort McKay First Nation, near the confluence of the Athabasca and MacKay rivers. Fort McKay Oil Services and Tũ Nipi Water Solutions noted in a press release that they are, “not owned, operated, controlled by, or affiliated with Fort McKay First Nation.”
The partners are planning a formal launch event in Fort McMurray in October, with representatives from Indigenous communities, government and industry expected to participate. Additional project details will be announced as the venture advances.
