Oilsands producer fined for not stopping birds from nesting on tailings pond island

A major oilsands producer has been fined after 411 birds died at one of its tailings ponds.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has been assessed the fine of $278,000 by the Alberta Energy Regulator for not stopping birds from nesting on an island that emerged at the site.

"CNRL's contravention had a direct and severely negative effect on wildlife," said the regulator's report.

"Living animals were killed and euthanized due to the contravention. There can be no more serious effect on wildlife."

The report says that in the spring of 2022, Canadian Natural workers discovered an island had emerged in one of its tailings ponds. Although the company normally levels such islands to keep animals from being attracted to them, it didn't do so in this case.

By May 21, 2022, workers discovered birds on the island. They counted 271 California gull nests and one Canada goose nest.

The company informed the regulator on June 7, more than two weeks later. By then, Canadian Natural said it had installed bird deterrents.

"These, and subsequent, mitigation measures were not effective in preventing animals from coming into contact with a hazardous substance," the regulator's report says.

By mid-July, workers were noticing gull chicks fouled with oil. The situation continued until Aug. 4, when the surviving chicks were able to fly away.

Bitumen on the surface of a tailings pond can trap waterfowl and cause them to eventually sink. A heavily oiled bird is likely to die while even a light oiling can interfere with their ability to reproduce.

Other animals were also making their way onto the island. The incident was reported at the tailings ponds for the CNRL Horizon oilsands mine about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. 

According to the regulator, CNRL reported 411 bird fatalities at or near the tailings facility over the duration of the incident as well as coyotes and wolves accessing the island through the tailings water of the facility. 

The regulator found the company should have levelled the island when it first appeared, as it usually does. CNRL instead relied on its deterrent system and hazing activities.

It says the company failed to remove the island prior to 2022 after it first emerged a year earlier, even though CNRL has an established practice of island removal practices at Horizon.

CNRL argued in its submission that it should not be held to a standard of perfect, but the AER found they did not take all reasonable steps.

The regulator assessed the fine at $5,000 per day for the contravention. It was reduced by $100,000 for installing a perimeter snow fence around the Tar River Valley on July 16, which limited the impact on wildlife.

Company applied learnings

"In the summer of 2022, a combination of certain circumstances led to process-affected mortalities of California Gulls at Horizon's External Tailings Facility," CNRL spokesperson Julie Woo said in an emailed statement.

"We regret this unfortunate situation and we have applied learnings to mitigate the potential for reoccurrence."

The statement said the company is reviewing the enforcement decision and potential responses.

The tailings ponds, which altogether cover more than 300 square kilometres, are on a major migratory bird flyway, and measures to keep birds away from the toxic waterbodies are a condition of licence for all oilsands producers.

They are not always successful.

In a recent case, 32 waterfowl died in May 2023 in a Suncor pond. The biggest toll was in 2008, when 1,600 ducks died after landing in a Syncrude pond.