The federal government will now investigate the deaths of hundreds of ducks in northern Alberta. The investigation comes a day after oil giant Syncrude issued an apology after hundreds of ducks perished after landing on one of its tailings ponds.
"I'm very upset about this whole situation. There are 5,500 people out here proud to be Syncrude employees and I'm proud to represent them and this is not what we wanted to have happen," said Syncrude President and CEO Scott Sullivan.
Syncrude said the company did everything it was supposed to do to prevent the deaths.
The number of dead ducks rose to 350, an increase from the 230 originally reported to have been euthanized after coming into contact with bitumen floating on the surface of the tailings pond.
During Wednesday's Question Period, the federal government said it's taking the deaths seriously.
"This is completely unacceptable. This government has made it very clear the the oilsands must be developed in the most environmentally responsible way. Environment Canada officials will investigate this incident," Mark Warawa, parliamentary secretary to the environment minister, said.
But Syncrude it not the only company coming forward. As of late Tuesday afternoon, CTV News learned another two oil companies had reported that they also had waterfowl landing at some of their tailings ponds.
Suncor said at least 40 ducks are dead after landing on one of its tailings ponds. And Shell confirmed that one bird was found dead on a road and another was found at Albian Village work camp. Shell also said its crews observed that two birds were oiled at the Muskeg River mine tailings pond, but were unable to capture them.
Shell said its bird deterrent systems at Shell Albian Sands were fully implemented and operational at the time of the incident.
Syncrude believes the bird activity was due to a freezing rain in the area, which it says made it difficult for the birds to fly.
An expert on avian deterrents who testified in the recent Syncrude trial said the company's claim that freezing rain played a factor in the incident is legitimate.
"We know from landings that have been monitored over the many decades that precipitation in any form, rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, increases the likelihood that birds will land. When migrating they need to rest, which has many factors, including weather," said Colleen Cassady St. Clair, professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta.
Syncrude said bird deterrents were in place when the ducks landed.
The incident 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 a fine of $800,000, with $250,000 of that funding a wildlife management technician program at a Fort McMurray college. In addition, Syncrude will pay $1.3 million to an avian research program to develop better bird deterrents and $900,000 to 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.
The company had entered a not guilty plea to both provincial and federal charges. During the trial, Syncrude maintained the company did everything in its power to prevent the tragedy.
