Both Syncrude and Alberta government staff knew last summer that 1,606, not 500, waterfowl died on one of the company’s toxic tailings lakes, but Environment Minister Rob Renner was apparently kept in the dark along with the Alberta public.
Syncrude says it notified the government of the tally in July, but Renner says he didn’t learn until March 31 that more than three times the number of birds had died than was originally reported. “Indications from staff were that the final number would be higher than 500,” Renner says. “I didn’t know whether that final number was going to be 1,000 or 1,500.” Asked why he didn’t have the real numbers earlier, Renner said it’s not his job to “get involved in the details of enforcement.”
Syncrude spokesperson Alain Moore says the company didn’t publicize the real number earlier because it didn’t want to jeopardize the government investigation into the incident, an explanation that isn’t sitting well with environmental groups. Ecojustice lawyer Barry Robinson says it was the government’s responsibility to make the numbers public. “I don’t see how releasing the number would jeopardize the investigation,” he says.
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