Syncrude has pleaded guilty and been fined more than $2.7 million in the deaths of 31 great blue herons at one of its oilsands mines north of Fort McMurray.
An agreed statement of facts says Syncrude has admitted that an abandoned sump pond in which the birds were found didn’t have deterrents to keep waterfowl from landing on it, even though the pond met criteria for being high risk.