Syncrude will pay $2.75 million to settle charges stemming from the deaths of blue herons at its Mildred Lake oilsands mine. The company has agreed to plead guilty to federal and provincial charges laid in August 2017.

Thirty herons were found dead in an abandoned sump on August 31, 2015, and a 31st bird had to be euthanized. Syncrude says an investigation found where they were killed wasn't covered by deterrents used for the site's tailings areas.

"We immediately took steps to bring all these areas on our Mildred Lake and Aurora sites into our waterfowl protection plan," says Managing Director Doreen Cole. "We also shared our findings with other operators."

Syncrude was charged with failing to store a hazardous substance in a manner that ensures it does not come into direct contact with, or contaminate, animals under Alberta's Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, as well as charges under the federal Migratory Birds Act.

The Alberta Energy Regulator says $950,000 of the provincial penalty will go towards projects that will support biodiversity, habitat, and migratory pathways for birds and other wildlife in Alberta. It will be accepting requests for proposal.

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Almost all of the capacity of at a soon-to-open gas plant has been spoken for. SemCAMS says it has reached a long-term agreement with the Canadian subsidiary of an unnamed large international oil and gas company for 70 million cubic feet of gas per day.

That will come from its Wapiti Gas Plant, which is expected to be up and running in the first quarter of 2019. Its total capacity will be 200 million cubic feet of gas per day, of which up to 120 million is committed to NuVista Energy for 15 years.

The project is estimated to cost $300 to $350 million and is located 40 kilometres south of Grande Prairie in the Municipal District of Greenview.

This fall, SemCAMS also got approval from the Alberta Energy Regulator to build a 280 million cubic feet of gas per day sour gas plant in the Pipestone area. It will connect to the Wapiti Gas Plant through a pipeline currently under construction. The Pipestone pipeline is expected to start gathering gas in the fourth quarter of 2019.

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123 birds have died at a Suncor Energy oilsands project north of Fort McMurray. The Alberta Energy Regulator says it is investigating reports of the dead and euthanized waterfowl and songbirds at the Fort Hills Energy mine.

A Suncor spokesperson tells CBC News the birds were horned larks, which aren't native to the area. The company says deterrent systems like canons, radar and scarecrows were in the area and active at the time.

Suncor is still collecting the birds and monitoring the situation, according to the AER.

Their deaths are the latest in a string of bird fatalities in the Alberta oilsands. Syncrude Canada was charged in August after 31 blue herons were found dead at their Mildred Lake oilsands mine two years earlier. Also in 2015, 122 birds were killed after landing on three tailings ponds in the area.

Going further back, more than 550 birds died when they landed on waste ponds belonging to Syncrude and Suncor. Syncrude was also fined $3 million when more than 1,600 ducks died after landing on a tailings pond in 2008.

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Multiple investigations are now underway into a fire that broke out at Canadian Natural Resources Horizon Oil Sands site north of Fort McMurray. One person was treated for minor injuries, and the Alberta Energy Regulator and Alberta Occupational Health and Safety are looking into the incident.

CNRL says there was an electrical building fire at the plant Monday night. Workers in the area were evacuated as a precaution and and on-site first responders put the blaze out.

The cause of the fire and the extent of damage is being investigated by the oilsands company. Global News reports the AER is also investigating whether all environmental and safety protocols were being followed at the time. While OHS has confirmed it's also responding, the province wouldn't comment further.

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UPDATE: Greenpeace has reacted to the charges with a call for further action:

"We are glad to see charges finally being laid against Syncrude, a company with a history of bird deaths on their tar sands operations. Syncrude didn’t have the safety equipment in place to protect these birds and, despite repeated assurances, continues to rack up an alarming number of wildlife incidents. While we welcome the charges, the government needs to increase the penalties these companies face and begin to take action on the toxic waste water and tailings ponds that are growing by the minute. A fine that can be paid off by a few hours’ profit doesn’t send much of a signal to the company or to industry, and as long as these toxic ponds and lakes are around, these preventable deaths will continue to happen."

Syncrude Canada has been charged after 31 blue herons were found dead at their Mildred Lake oilsands mine two summers ago. The birds were discovered on August 5th, 2015, and the incident was reported to the Alberta Energy Regulator two days later.

At the time, one bird was still living, but had to be euthanized. The other 30 were already dead in a run off pond that had bitumen mixed in with the rainwater. It was not a tailings pond.

The AER says Syncrude is charged with one count of failing to store a hazardous substance in a manner than ensure that it does not come into direct contact with, or contaminate, animals under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act.

https://twitter.com/SyncrudeCanada/status/893225105039527939

If convicted, the company could be fined up to $500,000. They'll make their first court appearance on September 27th in Fort McMurray. Syncrude was previously fined $3 million when 1,600 ducks died after landing on a tailings pond at another facility in 2008.

Mildred Lake was also one of the facilities where 196 birds were killed after landing in three tailings ponds in November 2014. The AER found none of the three companies involved were responsible, as intense weather conditions forced the birds to land on the ponds in spite of the deterrents in place.

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The Alberta Energy Regulator has formally ordered Trilogy Energy to contain and clean up its pipeline leak 15 kilometres northeast of Fox Creek.

The oil emulsion spill was discovered on October 6th, but the company still hasn't confirmed how much has leaked. It's estimated to cover three hectares of land, which is between four and five football fields in size.

Trilogy had originally said no wildlife had been impacted, but an update Friday confirms two birds were found in the area within the first 48 hours. No dead wildlife has been found since.

Operations on the line have already been suspended, and the leak contained. Clean up operations have been ongoing since it was discovered. As part of the A-E-R order, Trilogy will have to provide daily public updates on its website

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It turns out the Alberta Energy Regulator never should have approved Canadian Natural Resources Limited's licence to withdraw water from Cutbank Lake. The area is a trumpeter swan habitat and activity is restricted between April 1st and September 30th.

Public affairs officer Tracie Moore explains that because the lake is surrounded by private land, it is protected, but that didn't show up in the application's review.

"The concern was that we didn't trigger for private land; it triggered for Crown. So we've updated our systems, we've fixed our systems, not just for Cutbank Lake but for private land lakes that have these sensitive areas on them."

The Temporary Diversion Licence was originally issued on June 15th, but was suspended due to concerns about nesting Trumpeter swans. Those couldn't be confirmed and pulling began again on July 9th. More than 13 million litres of water had already been withdrawn, but the AER says water levels remain the same thanks to recent rainfall.

CNRL had until Wednesday to remove its equipment, but spokesperson Julie Woo says that's already been done. The company could apply to withdraw water again after the end of September but has not yet determined its future requirements

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A temporary diversion license for an oil and gas company drawing water from Cutbank Lake has been suspended. Tracie Moore with Public Affairs at the Alberta Energy Regulator says the 25 million litre license was issued to Canadian Natural Resources Limited on June 15th.

However, the AER later heard concerns that there may be Trumpeter swans nesting in the area. The agency investigated and couldn't confirm the claims, but suspended the license to give CNRL time to contact Alberta Environment about any requirements.

"CNRL did voluntarily stop pumping before we even suspended the TDL," adds Moore.

If they're able to satisfy the requirements, the TDL could be reinstated. It was originally set to expire on September 30th. CNRL Public Affairs Advisor Julie Woo says they're working with both parties in the next steps.

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Five million litres of oilsands emulsion has been released from a Nexen pipeline near Fort McMurray, the equivalent of more than 31,000 barrels. The pipeline failure occurred roughly 36 kilometres southeast of the city, but fortunately, the spill is mostly along the right of way and has not flowed into any bodies of water.

Nexen's emergency response plan has been put into action, and the source of the release has been "effectively stopped". The company has already started cleaning up the affected area and there have been no reported impacts on the public or wildlife so far.

The Alberta Energy Regulator is already on site conducting an investigation.

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The Alberta Energy Regulator has shut in 16 well sites operated by Murphy Oil Company, after they were found to be non-compliant.

New rules were brought in last year for operators in the Peace River area requiring them to capture their produced gas. Inspectors found that the sites weren't flaring, incinerating or conserving all gases within the timeline that had been approved by the AER.

After doing further inspections, the company shut in or partially shut in another 17 sites. They'll stay that way until a new action plan is approved, as part of the ongoing efforts to improve air quality in the area.

None of the other 55 sites in the sweep had issues.

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The Fox Creek area has been hit by another 4.4 magnitude earthquake. Natural Resources Canada says at 5:57 p.m. Saturday night, the earth shook 36 kilometres east of the town.

It's the second quake to register 4.4 on the Richter scale so far this year in the area. On January 22, 2015, one was recorded that the Alberta Energy Regulator said was likely linked to hydraulic fracturing nearby.

It was part of a sequence of lower level seismic events in the Crooked Lake area that began in early January. No damage or surface impacts were reported, but there may have been as many as 100 aftershocks in the following days.

Following that, the AER issued new requirements for hydraulic fracturing operators around Fox Creek.

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After several earthquakes were recorded in the area in December and January, the Alberta Energy Regulator has issued new requirements for hydraulic fracturing operators around Fox Creek.

Anyone working in the Duvernay zone now has to test for the possibility of seismic activity ahead of time, and if anything with a magnitude of four or more occurs, fracking can't resume without permission of the AER.

Any earthquakes over two on the Richter scale must also be reported, and a response plan put into place.

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The recent 4.4 magnitude earthquake near Fox Creek might be related to fracking operations in the area.

The earthquake occurred on Thursday, January 22nd, roughly 33 kilometres west of the town, and the Alberta Energy Regulator says it was part of a sequence of lower level seismic events in the Crooked Lake area that began in early January.

No damage or surface impacts were reported, but there may have been as many as 100 aftershocks in the following days.

The Alberta NDP is calling for the provincial government to lead a full, scientific investigation into the earthquake.

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The Alberta Energy Regulator has determined that three oilsands mining operators in the Athabasca oil sands area were not responsible for the deaths of 196 birds in their tailings ponds earlier this month.

The AER was called in to investigate CNRL, Suncor Energy, and Syncrude after it was reported that the operators weren't properly using audio and visual means to deter waterfowl from landing on tailings ponds.

However, the regulator says that at the time of the incident on November 4th, intense weather conditions forced the birds to land on the pond in spite of the deterrents in place.

Photo: Ducks in a Syncrude tailings pond in 2008, by Todd Powell, Fish and Wildlife

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The Alberta Energy Regulator is again looking into reports of birds landing on oilsands tailings ponds in the Athabasca area.

How many birds hasn't been released, but Global News reports the three companies involved are Syncrude, CNRL, and Suncor.

Sycrude was fined $3 million back in 2008 when more than 1,600 ducks landed on its tailings ponds.

ESRD, Environment Canada, and Fish and Wildlife have all been notified.

Photo: Ducks in a Syncrude tailings pond in 2008, by Todd Powell, Fish and Wildlife

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Baytex Energy says it supports the Alberta Energy Regulator's new regulatory initiatives.

The AER has approved all of the recommendations stemming from a public inquiry into odours and emissions from heavy oil operations in the Peace River area.

They include requiring the capture of produced gas, and encourage gas conservation measures.

Baytex argues it is already expanding its gas conservation facilities and is working on capturing vapours from all of its well sites.

The Calgary-based company's operations are the subject of complaints from local families who have left their homes due to health concerns.

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