The toxic byproducts of Canada’s massive exploitation of tar sands have hit the news in a big way. The reason: 500 dead ducks.

On Monday 28 April a flock of the birds saw what they probably thought was an inviting pond where they could spend a few peaceful hours paddling about, and maybe being fed bread by those men in hard hats. Unfortunately for the ducks, the pond was a ‘settling basin’ of the Syncrude oil company, where toxic water and by-products from its oil operations on the tar sands collect. Five made it out alive.

Propane-powered noisemakers are supposed to scare off birds from the ponds, but due to extreme weather they hadn’t been deployed, said Syncrude. “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 (press release).

This hasn’t been nearly enough for Canada, where existing environmental concerns about the tar sands are bubbling to the surface and Syncrude is looking like … well … a sitting duck.

Aboriginals who live near the site demanded a federal inquiry, calling the government negligent for failing to protect the environment (The Canadian Press).

It also emerged that the duck deaths hadn’t come to light under company reporting requirements, as required, but had actually come from a tip off (Canwest News, NY Times). An inquiry was launched.

“The fact that we had to rely on a whistleblower to tell us the truth in this situation puts all of the historical information into doubt,” said Alberta Liberal Party leader Kevin Taft (Edmonton Sun). “These ponds are pools of toxic water so vast that it takes the largest earthen dams in the world to hold them in place. They are literally on the edge of the Athabasca River and they grow by millions of litres a day.”

This forced Alberta premier Ed Stelmach onto the defensive. “Thirty years ago, Syncrude pioneered the bird diversion strategy, the research. And for 30 years, things went well. One year, we have one incident and this is what’s being used by [the Alberta Liberal Party] to not only damage the reputation of the Department of the Environment, but of a company and also this legislature,” he said (Edmonton Sun again).

Even the country’s prime minister weighed in. “I’m not here to make any excuses for the particular event that occurred over the last few days,” said Stephen Harper (Canadian Press). “It is a terrible event. It is not going to do anybody’s image any good.”

However, it doesn’t look like this is going to stop exploitation of the tar sands. Bruce March, chief executive of Imperial Oil, which part-owns Syncrude, says it is an “inescapable reality that the development of the oilsands is absolutely vital now to meet current global realities” (Financial Post).

Image: a duck, not one of the 500 / USFWS