Syncrude's sentencing for the deaths of 1,600 ducks in a northern Alberta tailings pond has been put over until Oct. 22.

Lawyers for the company asked for the adjournment in a brief court appearance Friday in St. Albert provincial court.

The oil sands giant was found guilty in June of provincial and federal charges in the deaths of the ducks in April 2008.

Legal arguments were scheduled to take place Friday on whether convictions should be entered only on one of the two counts, to prevent the company from potentially sustaining two convictions for the same offense.

Instead, the court was told a potential settlement is in the works.

Syncrude is speaking to both federal and provincial crown prosecutors about what's known as a creative sentencing option, where, for example, some of the fines go towards conservation projects, research initiatives or college scholarships.

"That just one of the what we consider to be the beneficial elements of the Migratory Birds Convention Act in particular is that you can make efforts to ... put everybody in a better situation when they were before the offence occurred," said federal prosecutor Kent Brown.

Environmental groups say they support this type of sentence as long as it takes the severity of the offence into account.

"The fine, whether it be just a straight fine or a creative sentence, has to be enough ... to penalize the company for having breached the act and it also it also has to be enough of a deterrent that they will not do it again," said Barry Robinson, a lawyer for Ecojustice, a Canadian non-profit environmental legal organization.

The court also heard that Syncrude's lawyer during the trial, Robert White, is no longer representing the company in this matter. Syncrude says he was hired for the trial and thanked him for his work.

He has been replaced by Jack Marshall.