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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (AHN) – More birds are dying across Alberta because of the province’s oil sands projects. Ecologist Kevin Timoney said the number of bird deaths is at least 30 times higher than estimates of industry and government.
While the eight-year average of bird carcasses found in tailponds from 2000 to 2007 averaged 65 fowls, the 14-year average is almost 2,000 birds based on bird mortality rates and the growing size of tailing ponds over the last 20 years.
Timoney’s study covered 120 square kilometers of ponds where raptor, songbird and gull carcasses have been discovered. The ecologist stressed the study excluded birds that landed and oiled at night or sank under the ponds’ surface.
In 2008, 1,606 migratory birds died in one of Syncrude’s tailing ponds. Syncude, which was convicted this year of violating Alberta’s environmental protection law, earlier estimated only 500 birds died.
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Minister Mel Knight said oil sands operators are mandated to have deterrence and monitoring systems to protect various kinds of wildlife. However, Knight admitted the operators could still improve their prevention and tracking systems.
Timoney’s study was published Tuesday in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
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