LUSELAND, Sask. - More than 50 ducks have died after being exposed to oily water on a waste retention site in western Saskatchewan.
Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd says in a release that 53 birds died earlier this week near the community of Luseland.
The site is operated by Newalta Corp. and is part of heavy oil production in the area.
The release says such sites normally contain dry sand recovered during processing and recycling of crude oil from tank bottoms, but an unusually wet spring led to a buildup of water that attracted the birds.
It says precautionary measures to keep animals out were in place, but in wet conditions such sites may pose a hazard to waterfowl.
Last month, about 500 ducks died on a Syncrude Canada tailings pond in northern Alberta when air cannons used to scare the birds away could not be used because of a late snowfall.
