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Syncrude charged in duck deaths Canada, Alberta to prosecute 9 months after 500 ducks die in tailings pond; industry regulator sets new standards for toxic ponds Gary Park For Petroleum News
It’s an image that won’t go away and has now become the international poster-child for all the ills of Alberta’s oil sands.
Pictures and TV footage of 500 migrating ducks meeting their fate in a tailings pond at the Syncrude Canada operation have achieved for opponents of oil sands development what years of warnings about associated greenhouse gas emissions were unable to do.
While the carbon dioxide generated by the extraction and processing of raw bitumen — about 80 pounds per barrel of mined production — is deemed to be the major contributor to climate change, it’s colorless and odorless.
Contrast that with the wrenching sight of dead and dying waterfowl, coated in a sticky, toxic stew and the outrage is immediate and extensive.
For nine months, the Alberta government and the oil sands industry have faced relentless uproar for failing to prevent the deaths of the ducks and taking so long to seek redress.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sensed the depth of public feelings when he described the duck deaths as a “terrible event” that would harm Canada’s and Alberta’s global reputation.
Defenders of the industry tried pointing out that 62 licensed hunters in Alberta could kill as many ducks in one day of shooting.
That only inflamed the mood of outrage, which is now so deeply held that word Feb. 9 of charges being laid against Syncrude will do nothing, or little to placate the critics.
Joint prosecution In a joint prosecution, Alberta has laid charges under its environmental protection legislation, while Canada has charged the Syncrude consortium under migratory birds legislation.
If convicted, Syncrude could face total fines of C$800,000 and/or six month jail terms for its executives.
Already, Alberta Justice Minister Alison Redford has indicated a guilty verdict could result in a “creative sentencing,” requiring the consortium to perform technical or environmental program work.
Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner told reporters he was not aware of any precedent for the charges, which he said are important to the credibility of Alberta’s environmental regulatory system.
Syncrude, beyond needing time to study the charges, said it will “appear in court as required.”
However, a spokesman said “there is a huge resolve in our organization to prevent (such an incident) from happening again.”
The charges came just five days after the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation imposed its toughest measures yet on the tailing ponds, where about 85 percent of the material dug out of bitumen mines is discarded, some of it toxic. By some estimates, the new waste regulations will require oil sands’ mining companies to reduce the fine particles in liquid tailings by 50 percent within four years and ensure the ponds are solid enough to walk on and be reclaimed no more than five years after their active use has ended.
Energy Minister Mel Knight expressed hope that the international community will see the Alberta government is “very serious about how we move forward with development that’s environmentally friendly.”
Opposition from both sides But the initial reaction from both sides of the fence was less than positive.
The Oil Sands Developers Group, a non-profit organization that deals with regional issues in northern Alberta, said the industry will face a physical and financial challenge to meet the regulations and the timeline.
A spokeswoman for the Pembina Institute said the objective of reducing new tailings waste does nothing to address what she claimed were 720 billion liters of “legacy” waste, while Toronto-based Environmental Defense said the regulations would not prevent billions of liters of toxic pollution leaking into groundwater from the ponds.
Separately, the provincial government has asked Syncrude, Suncor Energy, Canadian natural Resources and Shell Albian Sands to reduce the amount of water they take from the Athabasca River (which flows into the Northwest Territories) for their oil sands operations.
Alberta Environment said the river is currently flowing at 118,000 liters per second, down from the normal 127,000 liters, when the industry is allowed to withdraw 15 percent. As a result, the industry’s take has been cut to 10 percent, which requires companies to obtain a government-approved plan for reduced water use.
Compounding the industry’s problems, Alberta health officials confirmed Feb. 6 that there are more cases of cancer than expected in the small aboriginal village of Fort Chipewyan, downstream from the oil sands.
A study found 47 individuals in the community had 51 different cancers over the 1995-2006 study period, more than the 39 cases health officials had anticipated.
But Dr. Tony Fields, a vice president at Alberta Health Services, said the findings pointed more to the need for further investigation rather than a cause for alarm.
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