Oil & Gas
No fly zones
- Details
- Category: Oil & Gas
- Written by Lynda Harrison
Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) says not a single bird landed on its sole tailings pond at its Horizon oilsands mine during this year's spring migration, and it is confident of that assertion because it has a team monitoring bird landings 24 hours a day, seven days a week, explains Calvin Duane, CNRL's environment manager.
Making sure birds don't come into contact with toxic tailings ponds is a regulatory requirement of oilsands operators and an important task, says Duane. "Mortality is something we take very seriously."
He declines to divulge how much CNRL spends on bird deterrence but does say it's an expensive undertaking.
CNRL's Horizon mine is the youngest of Alberta's four operating oilsands mines, all of which employ a range of techniques to keep birds and other animals away from their tailings ponds which, as tempting sources of water, could prove fatal to them.
CNRL hired Florida-based DeTect Inc., which specializes in using remote sensing technologies, for its bird deterrence package. DeTect supplied the company with a full suite of bird deterrents: long-range acoustic device (LRAD) and acoustic system, propane cannons, human effigies, balloons, pyrotechnics. DeTect then trained CNRL how to use the technologies.
Deterrents also feature two-man teams monitoring bird activity 24-seven. "It works," says Duane.
If they spot birds in the tailings pond vicinity they will fire off flares or get into boats and harass them if necessary, or use remote-controlled boats to do the same thing, he said.
CNRL also controls vegetation around the pond to make the area inhospitable to birds. It has also created habitat that's highly desirable for them in a safe, very bird-visible area two kilometres away as an alternative, says Duane.
During an efficacy test taken on 24 mornings in May 2009 during spring migration, DeTect says it was 76% successful — that is, 76% of the valid 490 birds observed did not land. The remaining 24% of birds landed on the extreme western side of the pond, within or beyond vegetation. As birds flew away from the LRADs, the sound level decreased and was not enough to deter them completely. Since the study was completed the company has learned that sounding a deterrent for at least 45 seconds elicits the best flight response from geese, however during its study deterrents were set for only 15 seconds.
The company also tracked the species of birds it deterred and found it was most successful with shorebirds. Gulls were the most commonly observed group (32.1%) followed by shorebirds (27.7%) and ducks (15.7%).
On April 28, 2008, a large number of waterfowl landed on Syncrude Canada's Aurora settling basin and became coated in residual bitumen, leading to the deaths of 1,606 birds. According to Syncrude, previous bird mortality counts averaged about 35 birds a year across its entire operation and this was the first time in its 30-year operating history that an event of such magnitude had ever occurred. Syncrude has resolved to prevent it from ever happening again and has enhanced its waterfowl and duck protection program with additional resources and revised protocols to discourage waterfowl from tailing ponds areas, says the company.
In 2009, a total of 37 birds died on Syncrude's three tailings ponds, compared to 1,636 in 2008, according to Cheryl Robb, spokesperson. "We average 35 every year," she says.
Syncrude says it deploys 190 shore-based sound cannons at all tailings settling basins and areas of open water during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Staff, including a field wildlife advisor, are engaged year-round to observe areas of open water and to ensure bird and duck deterrents are in place. Scarecrows and effigies are fitted with reflectors and placed in open water to deter waterfowl from landing.
Its radar-based migration monitoring system helps with ongoing research of bird and duck migration patterns so that the company can adjust its deterrent system to ensure the best protection measures are in place, says Syncrude.
Suncor Energy has had a bird deterrent program in place for more than 30 years, currently deployed to eight tailings ponds. Similar to CNRL and Syncrude, Suncor's program includes operation of the bird deterrent systems on the ponds, monitoring for birds on the ponds and the effectiveness of the deterrent system.
The company attends to any oiled or injured bird in consultation with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development's fish and wildlife department. Suncor reported in its 2010 Report on Sustainability that 43 birds died on its oilsands mine leases in 2009, up from 33 in 2008.
"We review our bird deterrent program periodically to determine its reliability and effectiveness. While the program isn't foolproof, it is very effective and we constantly look for ways to improve it further," says Dany Laferriere, Suncor spokesperson.
The bird deterrent system is operated and maintained by a local contractor, SGS, under the direction of Suncor's reclamation and extraction tailings department.
At the Athabasca Oil Sands Project's Muskeg River Mine, operator Shell Canada is using the technology of Alarm Control Systems of Salt Lake City, Utah, which provides an on-demand radar-activated bird-deterrent program. It is essentially the same technology used to deter birds at major airports around the world, says Ed Greenberg, spokesperson.
Similar to CNRL's program, when the system identifies a bird's presence it launches a radio signal that activates strobe lights, propane cannon sounds, scarecrows and mechanical models of peregrine falcons which flap their wings and scream attack cries.
Shell's bird-deterrent system is in place wherever there is a tailings facility, whether it's external or in pit, said Greenberg. Shell's tailings facilities occupy an area of approximately 12 square kilometres, he says, adding the mine has just started putting tailings into its in-pit dykes.
"For Shell, bird deterrent and wildlife protection are integral parts of our operations and we take this area very seriously," he says.
