Syncrude will pay $3M for duck deaths

Syncrude Canada will have to pay a total of $3 million in penalties for causing the deaths of 1,600 ducks in a tailings pond at its northern Alberta oilsands mine.

The penalty was suggested in a joint sentencing submission from the company and Crown lawyers that the judge accepted.

Syncrude was found guilty on June 25 of breaking provincial and federal wildlife laws when it failed to stop the birds from landing on its toxic waste pond in April 2008.

Images of the tar-fouled and suffering ducks flashed around the world and became a focal point for oilsands critics.

Syncrude's lawyer argued during the trial that the company was caught off-guard because of a late-spring snowstorm.

But court heard that Syncrude was two weeks behind in setting up air cannons and scarecrows meant to drive the ducks away.