Regulator called on to force responsible mining after birds found dead in tailings pond

Keepers of the Athabasca, a collective of Indigenous people and environmental groups working toward the protection of the Athabasca River Watershed, say their members are distressed about a group of birds found dead in a tailings pond in Northern Alberta.

The Fort Hills oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta has reported 123 birds, including song birds, have died or had to be euthanized. The Alberta Energy Regulator is investigating.

“We have failed wildlife once again,” said Keepers of the Athabasca is a prepared statement. “Plenty can be done to prevent this!”

Keepers’ Co-chair Paul Belang said there are many proven treatment methods to achieve non-toxic tailings states.

“Solutions over time have been brought forward, but whether they are high cost or low cost, industry wants no cost,” he said.  He is calling on more government regulations to force environmental responsibility from the mining industry.

Keepers has asked the Alberta Energy Regulator to require industry to replace the so called "bird deterrents”—cannons and flags— as “they are now definitively proven not to work.”  

Green chemistry and dry processing options must be considered and implemented, read the statement. Keepers is also calling for fully enclosed containment systems to be used for tailings.

A tailings pond is a body used to separate oil, sand and chemicals from water used in oilsands ore processing. The Fort Hills mine is operated by Suncor Energy.