The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) said on May 14 it was monitoring the situation after 27 waterfowl were found dead at one of Suncor Energy Inc.'s oilsands tailings ponds.
The company informed the regulator on May 13 that the birds were found at its Syncrude Mildred Lake Settling Basin, AER said in a post on its website.
The deceased birds at Syncrude included seven Grebes, with another five of the endangered bird species being found at the Millennium Mine site tailings pond at Suncor Base Plant.
The Western Grebe, facing the danger of becoming extinct, is listed as "special concern" in Canada and as "threatened" in Alberta.
Suncor did not immediately respond to Reuters request for a comment.
In April, 32 waterfowl were found dead at Suncor's tailings pond on its Base Mine Site.
Tailings — a toxic mix of water, clay, sand, residual bitumen and trace metals — are a byproduct of extracting bitumen from mined oil sands and are stored in huge engineered ponds.
Separately, Canada's federal environment ministry has opened a formal investigation into a months-long tailings leak at Imperial Oil Ltd.'s Kearl oil sands mine in northern Alberta, signaling a potential prosecution.
Recommended Reading
Kinetik Chief Strategy Officer to Retire in June
2025-05-01 - Kinetik Holdings Chief Strategy Officer Anne Psencik will continue as in a consulting role after her retirement at the end of June.
Crescent Energy Appoints Former Pioneer Exec Joey Hall as COO
2025-05-19 - Crescent Energy has chosen Joey Hall, who most recently served as executive vice president of operations at Pioneer Natural Resources and oversaw the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, as its new COO.
Dividends Declared in the Months of May, June 2025
2025-06-27 - As companies gear up to report on second-quarter earnings, here is a compilation of dividends declared in the months of May and June from select upstream, midstream and service and supply companies.
Pontem Energy Capital Aims to Raise $250MM for New Upstream Fund
2025-07-15 - Pontem Energy Capital held an initial close for its second fund, which is targeting $250 million in commitments for non-operated investments in U.S. basins.
E&P Pricing Models Factor in Volatility, Says BOK Expert
2025-07-10 - Integrating global volatility into pricing models means cleaner balance sheets with improved leverage and room to deploy capital creatively, says BOK Financial’s Mari Salazar.
Comments
Add new comment
This conversation is moderated according to Hart Energy community rules. Please read the rules before joining the discussion. If you’re experiencing any technical problems, please contact our customer care team.