FORT MCMURRAY, AB, April 29 /CNW/ - Syncrude is working closely with
Alberta Fish and Wildlife and Alberta Environment to coordinate recovery
efforts relating to a large flock of ducks that landed on Syncrude's Aurora
Settling Basin on Monday, April 28th.
These ducks became coated in residual oil that lies on the surface of the
settling basin. It is estimated that 400 - 500 birds were affected. Syncrude
has deployed recovery teams to rescue the birds affected by this incident.
"We take a lot of pride in having systems in place to prevent birds from
landing on settling basins and storage ponds. So we're very saddened and sorry
that this occurred," said Tom Katinas, President and CEO. "We're investigating
the incident and cooperating with Alberta government officials to determine
how we can prevent a similar incident in the future."
Syncrude has a long-standing program that was being followed when this
occurred. From Spring to Fall, we use audible noise makers to deter birds from
entering the ponds on our plant site as part of our waterfowl protection
program. The noise makers, which are highly effective, had already been
deployed on all other ponds at our operations. However, due to the extreme
winter weather conditions in the region last week, the deployment of these
devices on the Aurora Settling Basin was delayed. After the rapid weekend
thaw, we were in the process of deploying the audible noise makers on Monday,
April 28th when this incident occurred. Eighteen propane-fired noisemakers are
now operating at this site.
This is the first time a large flock of birds has landed on a settling
basin in Syncrude's 30 years of operation.
The Syncrude Project is a joint venture operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd.
and owned by Canadian Oil Sands Limited, ConocoPhillips Oilsands Partnership
II, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Limited, Murphy Oil Company Ltd.,
Nexen Oil Sands Partnership, and Petro-Canada Oil and Gas.Trading Symbols for Public Syncrude Joint Venture Owners:
Canadian Oil Sands Trust COS.UN - TSX
ConocoPhillips Oilsands Partnership II
(wholly owned by ConocoPhillips) COP - NYSE
Imperial Oil Resources IMO - TSX/AMEX
Murphy Oil Company Ltd. MUR - NYSE
Nexen Inc. NXY - TSX/NYSE
Petro-Canada PCA - TSX/PCZ - NYSE
For further information: Alain Moore at (780) 790-6406, or Syncrude's
website at www.syncrude.com
