Oil company Syncrude entered a not guilty plea Monday in court to charges relating to the deaths of 1,600 ducks on its massive tailings pond last year.
Syncrude says it did everything it could to prevent the incident and has since installed better technology to ensure it doesn't happen again. At the time of the incident, Syncrude said it was having problems with its electronic cannons, which were used to scare the birds away. The cannons were not operational at the time but have now been fixed.
"It is not possible for anybody to do more than Syncrude has done to ensure that it never happens again and so we've pleaded not guilty," said Syncrude lawyer Robert White.
The company insists that it is not legally responsible in the incident, but the Crown, along with environmental groups firmly disagree.
"What we're going to see here is a lot of legal wrangling as they try and wrangle and weasel their way out of their responsibility," said Bruce Cox with Greenpeace.
In January, Sierra Club Canada launched a private prosecution against Syncrude under the Federal Migratory Birds Convention Act, which prohibits the deposit of a harmful substance in an area frequented by migratory birds.
"We have to make the biggest polluters in the biggest oil industry pay. We have to hold them accountable for their actions," said said Jeh Custer with Sierra Club.
And one month later, the provincial and federal government served Syncrude with joint charges under the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act.
The provincial charge carries a maximum fine of $500,000, while the charge from Environment Canada could cost the company up to $300,000.
"The prosecution in our view is still necessary because I don't think the public would be accepting that they've simply made some changes and that's good enough," said Crown prosecutor Kent Brown.
The trial is scheduled for next March.
With files from Scott Roberts
