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Province investigating waterfowl landing on tailings pond
News Articles | The Government of Alberta | October 26, 2010
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The Alberta government is investigating why waterfowl have landed on a tailings pond north of Fort McMurray. Syncrude Canada Ltd. reported that a number of ducks landed on their Mildred Lake Settling Basin the evening of October 25.
“I cannot express how disappointed and frustrated I am that this incident occurred,” said Rob Renner, Alberta Minister of Environment. “Albertans deserve answers to why this happened again, and we will do everything we can to get those answers quickly.”
Government of Alberta staff are on-site to ensure deterrents are in place to prevent further birds from landing. Staff are investigating why this occurred and how it could be prevented in the future. The exact number and status of the birds is unknown, but some are heavily oiled. Recovery operations are underway.
In their operating approval, Alberta requires that Syncrude has a comprehensive bird deterrent system to operate their tailings ponds.
Hundreds of thousands of waterfowl travel through the Fort McMurray region during their annual migration. Effective bird deterrence is an important part of the Alberta government’s approval requirements for tailings ponds.
Tagged with: syncrude, ducks, tailings ponds, fort mcmurray, birds, mildred lake
