Say you were a guest in someone’s home, and you spilled the contents of your glass, would you sit idle until your host pointed out the mess? If someone were to do that, it would be considered odd and, frankly, rude behaviour. Then why is it normalized that oil and gas companies are slow to clean up spills, leaks and other incidents?
Oil sands tailings are a threat to the environment and are a liability to downstream communities. The fallacy of “first-in-class technology and safety standards” from the industry itself insinuates that if disastrous accidents happen (and they do) they would be dealt with swiftly to minimize and mitigate harm.
The pattern that is unfolding shows that when oil sands tailings leak, spill, or when processes fail, companies are slow to respond to the point of negligence and fines for harm done are often arbitrarily reduced.
An extreme example of slow responses to incidents is the case of the Imperial Oil Kearl leak and spill, both of which went unreported for months. Another example of failure to act has recently come to light – CNRL knowingly let birds use islands that had formed within tailings ponds as a nesting site. Over 400 birds died.
Incidents of this nature keep happening and many aren’t common public knowledge until years after, when an investigation is completed and published by the Alberta Energy Regulator. Communities deserve transparency when it comes to spills, leaks, and impacts on nature and water. Moreover, they deserve these incidents to be treated with urgency.
How is the CNRL incident part of a sinister pattern?
In yet another stark reminder of the risks associated with oil sands operations, a recent report has shed light on how oil sands companies and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) have fallen short of protecting the surrounding environment. This case centers around a situation that unfolded at Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) Horizon oilsands mining operation, which resulted in dire consequences for wildlife after a series of failures.
An island sounds nice – but not if it’s in a tailings pond and you’re a bird
During the spring of 2021, CNRL identified an issue on their site: an island had formed within their tailings facility. The island of solid tailings and sediment, which emerged due to a fluctuation in fluid tailings volume, became unexpected habitat for wildlife, including birds, coyotes, and wolves. Because these islands resemble natural habitat that attract wildlife, companies typically have procedures and practices in place to address the formation of islands as they occur to prevent wildlife from using them.
Though they knew of the island’s existence, CNRL reported that they did not see any birds using the island and made the unfortunate call to take no further action to mitigate the risk the island posed to wildlife. No efforts were made to remove the island, report it, or prevent its re-emergence. The island was situated near natural water bodies and wetlands that birds were inhabiting, making use of the tailings island an easy, but deadly, mistake for birds.
Instead, the company waited for the issue, the island, to “resolve itself” and continued to operate business as usual, using standard bird deterrents. These methods have been deemed satisfactory by oil companies, but studies have shown them to be largely unreliable and ineffective.
The island resurfaces, and there are devasting consequences
The following spring in 2022, the island re-emerged and became home to over 271 California gull nests and 1 Canada goose nest. The nests were surrounded by tailings fluids, which carry known substances* that are highly toxic to wildlife – especially birds.
CNRL’s 2021 decision to avoid dealing with the island when it was first discovered
led to the death of at least 411 birds and posed risks to other wildlife, such as coyotes and wolves.
* In this case it was bitumen. Though it is “naturally occurring” in some instances, bitumen from extraction processes is lethal for birds.
The Incident first happened in 2021, and the investigation and fine were only recently made public, 3 years later.
We have highlighted the AER investigation of the incident below, but you can read the full findings here.
Findings from the report
Details from the AER investigation displays the multi-faceted failure of the company.
1. Delayed response
CNRL first detected nesting birds on May 21, 2022. However, it wasn’t until weeks later, on June 7, 2022, that they first notified the AER of the presence of 271 California gull nests and 1 Canada goose nest, while identifying mitigation measures that were being taken to prevent birds from coming into contact with the tailings (even though the birds had already nested on the site).
On July 12, CNRL notified the AER that California gull chicks were discovered to be oiled.
Despite failing to prevent the birds from nesting on the site, the company argued that the penalty should have only started on July 12, 2022, since that is when the birds were “first” discovered to be oiled (even though it was inevitable for the chicks to eventually come into contact with the tailings since their nests were surrounded by the tailings fluids).
Below, it is apparent that the company’s standard to protect harm to wildlife is not based on early intervention.
Despite the facts that these islands form risks to wildlife as they so closely resemble natural habitat and their proximity to water bodies, CNRL reiterates that they did not believe the birds were at risk nesting on the island. In the AER report, CNRL states that there was no floating bitumen and that the water quality was improved.
CNRL later shared a photo showing what appeared to be floating bitumen, contradicting their earlier statement.
2. Inadequate mitigation
Despite the company’s plea that they had taken all possible precautions, it is clearly documented in the report that CNRL failed to implement those precautions to prevent harm to wildlife.
CNRL first failed to remove the island and prevent its re-emergence, even though the company has existing systems and standard management practices in place for island removal at the site, because of the high risk the islands pose to wildlife.
Next, CNRL failed to protect the birds from landing, habituating, and coming into contact with the toxic tailings fluid. In an attempt to defend their inaction, they used the Migratory Bird Convention Act, legislation that is meant to protect birds, as a scapegoat for inaction:
When the nests were first discovered on the island site, alternative actions could have been taken, instead of weaponizing a law intended to protect migratory birds against the birds themselves. According to the AER, the company could have:
- Conducted a new assessment of the situation and consult a specialist regarding legal alternatives
- Placing a barrier to prevent gull chicks from walking into the toxic tailings fluid
Furthermore, CNRL failed to protect other wildlife from coming onto site, as shallow volume levels surrounding the island allowed access from predators, such as wolf and coyotes, who preyed upon oiled, contaminated birds.
3. Regulatory oversight
The contravention was recorded as ending on August 4, 2022, when the California gull chicks became capable of flight and left the island. However, bitumen is highly toxic to birds, and even if they can fly away, it is known that their feathers and reproductive abilities are compromised from the exposure. The impacts are also likely to make their way through the food chain, as predators prey on contaminated birds and then ingest the toxic compounds.
The AER’s precedent to end the contravention when the birds either die or leave the area (in this case, the island) suggests that the problem ends there. It does not acknowledge the lasting implications to the ecosystem.
Despite CNRL’s consistent display of willful inaction, the AER reduced the penalty by $100,000 out of “good faith” for an action that was taken over a year after the island was first detected, and almost one month after the nesting birds were first spotted. The AER even states that “CNRL did not take all steps that a reasonable person in a similar circumstance should have taken”.
After this AER investigation that clearly showed negligence on behalf of the company, the company, which reported profits of 10.9 billion in 2022, was fined only $278,000. This represents mere minutes of their profits from 2022.
This incident and resulting lack of real accountability underscores the urgent need for better management practices in the oil sands industry and stricter enforcement of environmental regulations.
Companies like CNRL must be proactive in their measures to prevent such disasters. Regulatory bodies like the AER need to ensure that penalties are not only being imposed but are sufficient to drive meaningful change within the industry. Otherwise, companies will continue on this dire path of inaction at the expense of the environment, wildlife, and local communities.
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