After reading some of the headlines this morning I felt like I had a serious case of déjà vu.  All the major news outlets were reporting Exxon Mobil pleads guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 

Approximately 85 birds, including waterfowl, hawks and owls, died after landing in oily wastewater ponds and natural gas well reserve pits at a number of Exxon's natural gas operations in Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas.  (Oh and did I mention Exxon Mobil was voted "The Green Company of the Year" by Forbes magazine last week?)

According to the Denver Post,

The company agreed to pay fines and community-service payments totaling $600,000 and will implement an environmental-compliance plan over the next three years aimed at preventing bird deaths on the company's facilities in the affected states.

But wait, didn't I just read about this happening somewhere else?  

Oh yes, yes you did.

In February, Syncrude was charged under provincial environmental law and under the federal migratory bird law for the death of over 500 ducks in Canada.  

Like I said déjà vu.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, bird deaths can be prevented by scrubbing the water of contaminants before discharge, placing netting or plastic "bird balls" over the water to prevent contact, using closed systems, or cannon fire to deter birds from the area.   They even mention that the fail-safe way to keep birds from landing in oil slicked ponds is to remove the pits or keep oil from entering them in the first place.

If you'd like to read more about how fuel development affects migratory birds read our Danger in the Nursery report that we put out with Boreal Songbird Initiative and Pembina Institute.  The report projects that we could lose 6 million to as many as 166 million birds over the coming decades due to tar sands development.