More ducks land on Syncrude Canada oil sands pond

More ducks land on Syncrude Canada oil sands pond
More ducks have landed on a tailings pond owned by Syncrude Canada Ltd, three days after Syncrude was ordered to pay a C$3 million ($2.9 million) penalty for a similar incident that killed 1,600 ducks and helped fuel environmental opposition to Canada's oil sands.

An unknown number of ducks landed on Syncrude's Mildred Lake settling basin in the northern Alberta oil sands on Monday night, the province of Alberta's environment department said on Tuesday. Though the exact number of ducks isn't known, Alberta Environment said some of them were heavily oiled. The department said its staff were on site to ensure landing deterrents are in place and to keep other waterfowl from landing.

Last week, the company was sentenced for a 2008 incident in which more than 1,600 ducks died after landing on a tailings pond at Syncrude's Aurora mine site. "I cannot express how disappointed and frustrated I am that this incident occurred," Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner said in a statement. "Albertans deserve answers to why this happened again."
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