Canadian oil sands company faces charges

The Associated Press
Published: February 9, 2009

TORONTO: A major Canadian oil sands company is facing federal charges for violating environmental laws after several hundred ducks died in a toxic pond last spring.
Images of the dead and dying ducks received international attention and Prime Minister Stephen Harper remarked that that reputation of Canada's massive oil sands projects had been harmed.
Syncrude Canada Ltd. was charged Monday by Canada's federal government and the Alberta provincial government with failing to take action that might have kept some 500 ducks from dying last April in a tailings pond which contained waste made from the separation of oil from sand.
Syncrude officials said at the time that noisemakers used to scare waterfowl away from the lake-sized tailings pond had not been deployed because of a spring snowstorm.
The charges under Alberta's Environmental Protection Act carry a maximum penalty of $500,000 Canadian (US$410,000). Environment Canada has charged Syncrude under the Migratory Birds Convention Act.

Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner said its the first time the charges have been laid in Alberta. He said it will be a joint prosecution with the federal government.
Renner said the charges don't have anything to do with U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Canada next week. A top Obama adviser criticized the environmental impacts of the oil sands during the campaign last year.
Industry officials estimate northern Alberta could yield as much as 175 billion barrels of oil, which would make Canada second only to Saudi Arabia in crude oil reserves.
However, critics say the massive oil sands projects are a threat to Alberta's rivers, forests and wildlife and a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.
"Every employee felt horrible it happened. Obviously, it gained a national profile," said Alain Moore, a spokesman for Syncrude.
Moore said the company is to appear in court March 25. He said the company will not comment directly on the charges until it has time to review the information laid for this prosecution.
Dozens of tailings ponds have been building up over 40 years in northern Alberta, but an action plan announced last week aims to force companies to clean up the sludge over several decades.
Environmental groups say this go-slow approach will do little in the short term to reduce the size of the toxic ponds, which are so large they can been seen from space.