Links
Birds dying in oilsands at 30 times the rate reported, says study
A new study says birds are likely dying in oilsands tailings ponds at least 30 times the rate suggested by industry and government.
The results add weight to arguments that depending on industry to monitor its own environmental impact isn't working, said study author Kevin Timoney, an ecologist whose paper was published Tuesday in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
"We need to have credible scientific monitoring," Timoney said.
Bird deaths are currently tracked through industry employees reporting carcasses. The eight-year annual average of such reports, from 2000 to 2007, is 65.
The 14-year median, including raptors, songbirds, shorebirds and gulls, is 1,973 deaths every year. That's more birds than died in the April 2008 incident that saw Syncrude convicted of charges under the environmental protection legislation earlier this year.
And the total is probably higher than that, said Timoney. His study, which was funded by Dalhousie University, didn't account for birds that landed and were oiled at night or that simply sank under the surface of the ponds.