Suncor, Syncrude and Canadian Natural Resources Limited are among the companies under investigation, after reports of waterfowl landing in tailings ponds.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Alberta Energy Regulator got several reports about a high number of birds in the area. It sent staff to the oilsands region to investigate. As of last night, it recorded 86 dead birds at CNRL Horizon, 30 at Syncrude Mildred Lake and six at Suncor Energy.
“At this time we’re still looking at the cause of this event,” says AER Spokesperson Ryan Bartlett. “Again, it’s a regional event. It’s kind of occurred across a wide area.
AER staff is looking into whether these companies and others, have their systems in place to deter birds year-round and during fall migration.
“Our deterrent system was already deployed with noisemakers on every pond and a radar system was operational,” says Syncrude Spokesperson Will Gibson. “This is year-round.”
Gibson said the company found 43 dead birds in its ponds for all of last year, and this event is “very disappointing” for Syncrude. In an emailed statement, CNRL said extreme fog on Tuesday prompted migrating waterfowl to land in its tailings pond, even with deterrent systems working fully. Officials reported to Alberta Environment and Sustainable Development and the Alberta Energy Regulator
“Multiple factors contributed to the waterfowl landings that included the severe weather event, the timing of the waterfowl migration late in the season, and poor visibility. Our waterfowl deterrents, including radar units, long range acoustic devices along with an array of propane cannons and effigies, were functional and effective, deterring many waterfowl from landing. Unfortunately, we are saddened that there have been 106 waterfowl fatalities,” states Spokesperson Julie Woo.
Greenpeace says companies are clearly not meeting the government’s directive to clean these ponds up, and this is just a reminder of how dangerous and deadly they are.
It says the government promised to eliminate the ponds, but they continue to grow. After initial reports, the AER contacted all other companies in the area. It’s investigation continues.
