Syncrude pleads not guilty to duck deaths
September 15, 2009
ROLAND CILLIERS
Fort McMurray Today staff
Syncrude Canada is pleading not guilty to government charges laid as a result of 1,606 birds that were killed on the companies work-site last year.
The oilsands operator was in a St. Albert provincial courtroom yesterday to answer charges from both the federal and provincial government. “After closely reviewing the charges and all of the evidence at our disposal, we have made the decision to plead not guilty to the charges laid,” said Syncrude President and CEO Tom Katinas in a press release. “Out of respect for the judicial system, I’m not able to outline why we have taken this position. We will provide our reasons in court, and we ask Canadians for their patience as we go through this legal process.”
On April 28, last year, 1,606 migrating waterfowl landed on Syncrude’s Aurora Tailings Pond and became covered in the oily residue that makes up the pond. Once covered in the tailings, a by-product of the oilsands industry, the birds were unable to escape and drowned.
If found guilty, Syncrude could face a maximum fine of $500,000 under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and an additional fee of $300,000 from Environment Canada charge for a violation of the Migratory Birds Convention Act. The charges are being jointly prosecuted.
Alain Moore, spokesman for Syncrude Canada, said the company feels badly that this happened and they have taken several proactive steps regarding bird deterrents since the incident.
“We feel horrible that this occurred last spring and we took a lot of steps and measures to ensure it never happens again because that’s an incident ourselves and Canadians don’t want to see in the future we’ve made significant changes to help achieve that goal,” said Moore.
One of those new measures include year-round deterrents on all areas with open water, instead of in the past where they would only be rolled out in the spring.
However critics of Syncrude’s decision to plead not guilty say that a more sincere gesture of them feeling bad about the bird deaths would be a guilty plea.
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Mike Hudema, a Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner, said several of the company's moves made since the duck incident look meaningless in light of the not guilty plea.
“It's absolutely atrocious that a company would take out full page ads apologizing and then plead not guilty in court,” said Hudema. “It's simply another example of companies failing to take responsibility for the ever-growing environmental and human rights price tag associated with tarsands extraction.” Hudema said all the apologies Syncrude made about the incident were just “crocodile tears.”
Andrew Nikiforuk, journalist and authour of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, said he thinks the not-guilty plea is an odd decision for a company that would want to move past this incident.
“You have to wonder if Syncrude's lawyers aren't working for Greenpeace,” said Nikiforuk. “Wouldn't you want to say, 'Yeah, we killed 1,600 ducks. They landed in our ponds' and close the case? I think the legal advice Syncrude is getting is extraordinarily bad, and it’s generally wise policy when you make a mistake to admit it and move on. To defend the killing of 1,600 ducks is an extreme position.”
One potential defence to the charges Syncrude has been looking at is a constitutional challenge.
“We haven't made a final decision on that. It's a very complicated matter and our lawyers are taking a look at that area before we make a decision. We have advised the Crown we want to reserve the right to pursue that further but we have yet to make a decision,” said Moore.
The trial is scheduled to begin March 1 in St. Albert and is expected to last close to two months.
rcilliers@fortmcmurraytoday.com
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