More ducks land on Syncrude tailings pond: report
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CBJ – Oct. 26 – Ducks have once again landed on a Syncrude tailings pond, the CBC is reporting.
Updated: Tue Oct. 26 2010 17:34:03
ctvedmonton.ca
Alberta's Environment Minister, Rob Renner, said he was “disappointed and frustrated” to learn Syncrude Canada Ltd. reported a number of ducks landing on one of their tailings ponds outside Fort McMurray, Alberta, according to the report.
Some of the birds were covered in oil, but no deaths have been confirmed yet, Renner said, and the number of ducks who landed on the pond on Monday night is not yet known.
The development comes shortly after oilsands giant Syncrude agreed to pay $3 million after the deaths of 1,600 ducks who landed on a tailings pond in 2008 just last week.
230 ducks die after landing on Syncrude tailings pond
Updated: Tue Oct. 26 2010 17:34:03
ctvedmonton.ca
Syncrude reported that more than 200 waterfowl had landed on their Mildred Lake Settling Basin Monday evening. And as of Tuesday afternoon, 230 ducks had to be euthanized due to contact with bitumen floating on the surface.
Syncrude says the the remaining birds are still being assessed by Syncrude and government officials. The company believes the bird activity was due to a freezing rain in the area, which it says made it difficult for the birds to fly.
"That would be rather a unique situation where freezing rain would cause waterfowl to land an not be able to fly," said Premier Ed Stelmach Tuesday.
Environment Minister Rob Renner says he is "disappointed and frustrated" that this incident has occurred. He says the province has already launched an investigation to determine why the waterfowl landed in the tailings pond.
"I am disappointed that we're going through this again. The timing, obviously couldn't be worse," he told reporters Tuesday.
Syncrude says deterrents were in place when the birds landed.
"Our deterrent system was in full operation at the time but our staff did take additional air cannons out and flares guns and air horns to try and scare the birds away, but with no luck," said Robb.
This comes less than a week after a judge ordered Syncrude to pay $3 million in penalties for the deaths of 1,600 waterfowl on one of the company's tailings ponds back in 2008.
The sentence will see the company pay the full fine of $800,000, and $250,000 of that will fund a wildlife management technician program at a Fort McMurray college. In addition, Syncude will pay $2.2 million to prevent something such as this from happening again. One-point-three million will go to an avian research program to develop better bird deterrents.
And $900,000 will go towards a waterfowl protection program that would see the company pay for a protected wetland near Edmonton.
In June of this year, Syncrude was found guilty of causing the duck deaths, but had entered a not guilty plea to both provincial and federal charges after the animals were found dead.
During the trial, Syncrude maintained the company did everything in its power to prevent the tragedy, but the court didn't buy it.
Syncrude was charged with unlawfully depositing a substance that is harmful to migratory birds in waters or an area frequented by migratory birds.
Greenpeace says this recent occurrence is the best proof that tailings ponds are dangerous, even with deterrents in place.
"It's time to start eliminating these tailing lakes. The only safe toxic tailing lake is not a toxic tailing lake at all," said Greenpeace spokesperson Mike Hudema.
According to second quarter fiscal numbers, Syncrude recorded profits of about $631 million, or $7 million per day, which means the company could easily pay off the $3-million fine in a matter of a few hours
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