BILLINGS, Mont.—An oil company has pleaded guilty to failing to protect migratory birds from oil pits near wells in eastern Montana.
Enerplus Resources, based in Denver and Calgary, Alberta, pleaded guilty Thursday to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. U.S. Magistrate Carolyn Ostby fined Enerplus $10,000.
Prosecutors say Bureau of Land Management employees found two migratory birds dead in a reserve oil pit at a well near Sidney in June 2007. Law enforcement officers found insufficient measures in place to protect migrating birds from the oil pit.
In August and October of 2007, law enforcement found 22 dead migratory birds in or near pits belonging to Enerplus Resources.
Prosecutors say the company has since taken steps to protect birds from the oil pits.
