Wildlife group complained years before ducks got stuck in Alta. [tar]sands waste
Syncrude says most of the birds too heavily coated with oil to survive
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 | 11:48 AM MT

CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/04/30/ducks-fol...

A wildlife group says it predicted problems years before hundreds of migrating ducks were found dead and dying this week in a pond of toxic residue at a Syncrude [tar]sands plant in northern Alberta.

"I'm surprised that it took this long to happen," said Glen Semenchuk, executive director of the Federation of Alberta Naturalists, late Tuesday.

The day before, about 500 ducks landed Monday on a tailings pond filled with waste from the [tar]sands operation at the Aurora North Site mine, north of Fort McMurray.

Most of the ducks were too heavily coated with oil and waste to survive, said a Syncrude spokesperson Wednesday. A few of the surviving ducks have been brought to a wildlife rescue agency in the Edmonton area.

Semenchuk said his group has been concerned for years that the ponds were along a major flyway for waterfowl and could attract birds.

Environment officials said the birds are "clearly heavily oiled" and not able to fly. Recovery operations are underway, but it's not known yet how many of the birds can be saved.

"We were assured by the government that as part of their licensing, they would ensure a deterrent program would be in place, and now we are seeing that deterrent program does have some flaws in it," Semenchuk said.
Syncrude taking situation seriously: spokesman

Mike Hudema, a spokesman for Greenpeace Canada, which has been lobbying for a moratorium on [tar]sands expansion, said Wednesday: "It's a very devastating tragedy."

Greenpeace said one of the most alarming factors is Syncrude failed to report the incident. Government officials said they only learned about it from an anonymous tip.

"How many other incidents like this have there been," said Hudema. "What about other spills, other incidents? Because industry shouldn't be reporting on itself. That's the government job and the government obviously fell asleep at the switch."

Syncrude said it uses air cannons and scarecrows to keep birds from landing on the kilometre-wide ponds from early spring to late fall. But bad weather had prevented crews from getting onto the ponds last week to set up the equipment in time.

"In our 30 years of operating history, we've never had something like this occur, so it's definitely very unusual and we are taking it very seriously," said Syncrude spokesman Alain Moore.

Syncrude said it is working closely with Alberta Fish and Wildlife, and Alberta Environment to co-ordinate recovery efforts.

Semenchuk said the incident highlights the problem with the tailings ponds, which are growing by millions of litres a day as [tar]sands development expands.