More than 30 birds found dead at Suncor oilsands tailings ponds sites | 24CA News

The Alberta Energy Regulator says a complete of 32 lifeless waterfowl have been discovered at two separate oilsands tailings ponds operated by Suncor Energy Inc.

The regulator says Suncor reported 27 lifeless birds — together with 7 grebe, a delicate hen species — on the Syncrude Mildred Lake Settling Basin, a tailings pond situated on the north facet of the Mildred Lake oilsands website.

The different 5 birds, all grebe, had been discovered on the Millennium Mine website tailings pond at Suncor’s Base Plant north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

All the birds had been discovered between the dates of May 8 and May 13.

The regulator says regional stakeholders in addition to the provincial and federal governments have been notified.

It says it continues to evaluate the scenario and can present updates as required.

In April, the AER launched an investigation after dozens of hen carcasses had been found at an oilsands website close to Fort McMurray.

Suncor reported 32 lifeless waterfowl had been discovered at a tailings pond. That quantity was later revised to 43 birds, in addition to two muskrats, one bat and one vole.

Incidents of hen deaths at oilsands tailings ponds over time embrace 50 birds that landed at an Imperial Oil tailings space close to its Kearl oilsands mission in northern Alberta in May 2020. Imperial mentioned on the time it believed it occurred despite deterrents as a result of many of the pure water our bodies within the space had been nonetheless frozen.

In January 2019, Syncrude was fined greater than $2.7 million after pleading responsible to environmental prices within the deaths of 31 nice blue herons at one in all its oilsands mines north of Fort McMurray in 2015.

Syncrude was additionally fined $3 million in 2010 after greater than 1,600 geese died after they landed on a tailings pond in 2008.