CALGARY — Imperial Oil has been fined $50,000 after the province's energy regulator concluded the company broke environmental laws when wastewater containing oilsands tailings seeped outside its lease boundary in 2022. The fine is accompanied by requirements for mitigation plans and research into the environmental effects of such wastewater and represents only the first part of the regulator's inquiry. "These findings and resulting compliance and enforcement decisions do not encompass all potential contraventions that may have occurred at Kearl," the regulator said in a statement. "The investigation remains ongoing." Although the fine for two contraventions is the maximum allowed under Alberta law, environmental groups and First Nations scoffed at its size. Imperial reported $1.1 billion in income in the second quarter of 2024. In May 2022, Imperial told the regulator that discoloured water had pooled on the surface near the boundary of its Kearl oilsands lease.