Ducks Killed In Alberta Oilsands Tailings Ponds Will Result In No Charges Laid

Ducks Killed In Alberta Oilsands Tailings Ponds Will Result In No Charges Laid by The Canadian Press, October 4, 2012
The government says there won’t be any charges against two oilsands companies that own tailings ponds in northern Alberta where hundreds of ducks died two years ago. The Environment Department released a report by a University of Alberta biologist Thursday that said nothing could have been done when an early winter storm in October 2010 forced the birds to land on the toxic waste ponds belonging to Syncrude and Suncor near Fort McMurray. Others landed on nearby roads and parking lots. More than 550 birds, many of them covered in oily goo, had to be destroyed. The bird deaths came just days after Syncrude agreed to pay $3 million in penalties after 1,600 ducks died on one of its tailings ponds during a storm two years earlier. … Greenpeace campaigner Mike Hudema said the ducks wouldn’t have died if the oilsands facilities hadn’t been there. “These ducks didn’t die because of bad weather,” he said. “They died because their natural habitat has been replaced by toxic tailings lakes. Syncrude and Suncor should have to answer for the tragic costs of the toxics they create and release into the environment.” [Emphasis added]