Oil company fined $22,500 over dead birds

[Fern Davies]

SM Energy has been fined $22,500 for the deaths of migratory birds at a subsidiary's fluid pits in Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska.

 

The Denver-based oil company. pleaded guilty Wednesday to one misdemeanor count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in each state. The company was placed on probation for a year, fined $7,500 on each count and ordered to make a $7,500 payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

 

"These charges arose after a multi-year pattern of bird deaths at company sites, notification by the Fish and Wildlife Service, and failure of the defendant company's subsidiary to take reasonable measures to make the hazardous sites bird-safe," said Michael Cotter, U.S. attorney for Montana.

 

 

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