Oil giant Syncrude failed to install noise making cannons near one of its toxic tailing ponds two years ago, leading to the death of more than 1,600 migratory birds, prosecutors told an Alberta court Monday.
The allegations came as prosecutors faced off against the oil company's lawyers over an April, 2008 incident which made headlines around the world and tarnished Alberta's most lucrative industry.
On Monday, lawyers alleged that Syncrude was the only oil company in northern Alberta that didn't have a warning system in place to scare birds away from dangerous tailing ponds.
"Other companies in the area had deployed their bird-deterrent devices," said Alberta Crown prosecutor Susan McRory. "Syncrude failed in its duty to protect the birds."
The oilsands company has pleaded not guilty to charges under the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. If found guilty, Syncrude could face fines of more than $500,000.
Instead of mapping out their defence strategy in court Monday, lawyers for Syncrude instead put forth a motion to replace the trial judge. Syncrude lawyer Robert White didn't like the fact that Judge Ken Tjosveld, an ex-prosecutor, had once worked with the McRory in the Alberta justice system.
Though the motion was shot down, the defence said that the court should act to dispel any suggestions of bias in the case.
White also disagreed with the decision to have both federal and provincial charges tried simultaneously in the Alberta courtroom.
"In this case we all know that there was one event and that is the tragedy of these 1,600 ducks landing on the tailings pond and dying as a result," White told reporters gathered outside the court. "It is two ways of saying the same thing."
The trial could last for up to eight weeks.
The charges were laid after a flock of ducks landed in one of Syncrude's tailings ponds north of Fort McMurray, in April 2008. The ponds contained billions of litres of tainted water used to remove thick oil from sand during hot water extraction.
Since the ponds are along the flyways birds use to migrate to and from northern nesting grounds, oilsands processors are supposed to take measures to keep the waterfowl from landing on the waters, such as using scarecrows and noise-making cannons.
Syncrude's president said at the time that noisemakers had been deployed at all the company's other tailings ponds, but that it hadn't had a chance to install them on the affected ponds before the spring migration because of harsh winter weather.
At first, Syncrude estimated that 500 birds died in the incident. But about a year later, it was announced that the carcasses of 1,606 ducks were collected from the oily waters.
It was considered the worst such incident in the history of northern Alberta's oilsands.
Images and stories of the dying waterfowl made news around the world, prompting Prime Minister Stephen Harper to suggest the dead ducks had stained Alberta's and Canada's international image.
With files from The Canadian Press
