Herons found dead at Syncrude oilsands site
EDMONTON — The Alberta Energy Regulator is investigating what caused the deaths of nearly 30 blue herons at the Syncrude Canada Mildred Lake oilsands mining site north of Fort McMurray last week.
AER spokesman Bob Curran said a Syncrude employee discovered a blue heron covered in bitumen Wednesday. The bird was alive but had to be euthanized. After searching the site, 29 dead blue herons were discovered.
Curran said the deceased birds were found near an unused sump — a low area where water run-off collects — and appeared to have died at different times.
“We don’t know where the bird came into contact with the bitumen and we don’t know how the other birds died,” Curran said. “Our investigators are trying to determine exactly when the deaths occurred and what caused them.”
A spokesperson from Alberta Environment and Parks said they “would not normally anticipate finding a large group of herons at an industrial facility.”
AER sent two investigators to the site and Syncrude has launched an internal investigation into what caused the birds to die.
“We are doing this because nobody is happy at our site right now, from our CEO and down,” said Syncrude spokesman Will Gibson.
“Whenever these kinds of things happen, we take it very seriously and we take it very personally, because nobody that works here wants to see these things happen.”
Gibson said there were no wildlife deterrence systems in place in the area where the dead birds were discovered. The company is required to install bird deterrents around active tailing ponds, but there were no such facilities in the area.
Representatives from Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said poor oversight and management of oilsands operations is contributing to degradation of the area.
“While the birds may not have been found in a tailing pond, it’s clear the birds succumbed after exposure to something in the region,” said Eriel Deranger, communications co-ordinator with the ACFN in a written statement.
“It’s clear reclamation needs to be prioritized more aggressively and better monitoring needs to be established for all stages of operations so we don’t see continued incidents like this.”
The incident comes a few weeks after a massive pipeline spill was discovered at Nexen’s Long Lake oilsands operation. The double-walled pipeline spilled five million litres of bitumen emulsion 36 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray.