Another 230 ducks die on Syncrude tailings pond

Oh noes! Now we'll have a shortage during duck hunting season!

You haven't gone by Eau Claire market lately have you? That's probably where those damn ducks were headed to begin with.

We should convince them to kill more... just for shits and giggles.

I'm guessing that Syncrude gets a 'pass' on charges this time as they had all the recommended deterrents in place and working.
they are appealing to the public for any suggestions!
We can build suspension bridges miles long, and cover sports stadiums.I'm thinking that it would cost a lot less than 3 mil to string a net across the tailings ponds!

And then the ducks would probably get tangled in the nets and starve to death or be an easy dinner for various predators.
I say we set up some windfarms near the ponds, then the ducks will get killed by the windmills before they get to the tailings ponds, and then the environmentalists will have to get a little creative with their press releases.

quick, is anyone good at drawing cartoons? I'll bet that a cartoon of windmills protecting the tailings ponds would sell well to the news papers.

Get JJ to do one

just curious, what happened to ducks when they land on tailings ponds for the pulp and paper industry or a gold mine? isnt the tailings pond of a goldmine full or arsenic?

They manage to escape and die elsewhere. Like smokers.

Yes, but tailings ponds are a mix of ionized clay particles and light oil and other elements. Downwind, a foam forms from the water splashing into the pond. The surface tension of the pond isn't right to support waterfoul floating on it. They get bogged in the oil, and can't swim.

Yes, but tailings ponds are a mix of ionized clay particles and light oil and other elements. Downwind, a foam forms from the water splashing into the pond. The surface tension of the pond isn't right to support waterfoul floating on it. They get bogged in the oil, and can't swim.

yep, and i'll bet it doesnt even take much to form the foam, considering alberta wind

but once again I wonder how this relates to tailings ponds in general. ie tailings ponds are nothing new to some industries. what do we already know about them? how are risks mitigated? I'm sure the guys that are in the planning departments are fully educated on the matter, so I'm not suggesting otherwise. It just seems like tailings ponds are nothing new, and so an envirementalist attack on tailings ponds should be nothing new as well.....yet it seems like the eco-nut groups are getting alot of mileage off of the tailings ponds in Alberta oilsands.

Yes, but tailings ponds are a mix of ionized clay particles and light oil and other elements. Downwind, a foam forms from the water splashing into the pond. The surface tension of the pond isn't right to support waterfoul floating on it. They get bogged in the oil, and can't swim.

yep, and i'll bet it doesnt even take much to form the foam, considering alberta wind

but once again I wonder how this relates to tailings ponds in general. ie tailings ponds are nothing new to some industries. what do we already know about them? how are risks mitigated? I'm sure the guys that are in the planning departments are fully educated on the matter, so I'm not suggesting otherwise. It just seems like tailings ponds are nothing new, and so an envirementalist attack on tailings ponds should be nothing new as well.....yet it seems like the eco-nut groups are getting alot of mileage off of the tailings ponds in Alberta oilsands.

Quite right. Oilsands tailings ponds have been around since the 1970s. 'Mildred Lake, AB', one of the oldest tailings ponds, has it's own postal code. Suncor recently reclaimed one of their oldest ponds.

The problem being that ionized clay doesn't want to settle out of water. But they have developed the tech to separate the clay from the water now in under a week, instead of years. So tailings ponds will go away in the near future. Enviroweenines will probably take credit though.

I don't think being concerned about this level of impact on migratory birds would classify one as an "eco-nut." That's just silly.

Yes, but tailings ponds are a mix of ionized clay particles and light oil and other elements. Downwind, a foam forms from the water splashing into the pond. The surface tension of the pond isn't right to support waterfoul floating on it. They get bogged in the oil, and can't swim.

Waterfowl natural repel water, but not oil. The oil interferes with their natural insulation by matting their feather structure and impairs their ability to fly. In response, the ducks constantly groom and end up ingesting the oil. Most of the time they make it to shore and freeze to death.

Oil sands tailings ponds a re a lot different than mining tailings ponds. They're a lot bigger to start with (more like lakes than ponds). And typically mining tailings ponds don't have much oil in them--the concern is more with solubilzed components like dissolved metals.

Bird deterrance is a black art at best. You'd think there'd be an easy solution to deter birds, but there isn't. In a deal with prosecutors due to the last oil sands tailings bird kill, Syncrude gave U of A a $1.3 mil grant to figure out better ways to deter birds.

Won't do much for Stelmach's charm campaign. This is one of the rare times I actually agree with a comment by Greenpeace: