April 21, 2009
Finding common ground in protecting natural resources, a coalition of New York State solid waste associations and two New York Audubon organizations have joined forces for the first time and announced a program aimed at protecting Red-tailed Hawks, Great Horned Owls and other birds of prey from being injured by landfill gas (methane) control flares at landfills.
The “Save Our Raptors” Campaign was initiated in November, 2008 by Stella Miller, president of the Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon Society (Long Island, New York). Ms. Miller pointed out that landfills are treeless landscapes that attract rodents and other small mammals, which are a favorite food source for hawks, falcons, owls and other raptors. Many landfills also contain landfill gas control flares that consist of tall pipes with automatic igniters which burn the methane gas. Unfortunately, the birds often use them as perches or, if flying over them when they ignite, the birds can suffer severe burns, melted beaks, talons or feathers or even death. Injured birds have been found throughout the United States.
According to Ms. Miller, “Once a bird is down with this type of injury, it will either succumb from its injuries, or it will slowly starve to death. If they survive, it can take as long as a year for just their feathers to grow back. The rule of thumb is that for every bird that makes it, there are ten who do not survive”.
After reading an article on the subject by Ms. Miller, Eric Swenson, an officer of both the New York State Association for Solid Waste Management and the Federation of New York Solid Waste Associations, brought the issue to both organizations who agreed to support the campaign.
Meg Morris, who chairs the Federation of New York Solid Waste Associations, pointed out that, “The Federation’s goal is to see to it that modern landfills and other solid waste strategies are designed to protect the environment as much as possible. Protecting the wildlife that we attract to these facilities is integral to what we’re all about.”
In addition to increasing communication with national and
other state-wide solid waste associations, federal agencies,
Audubon organizations and wildlife rehabilitators to further
build nation-wide awareness of the issue, Ms. Morris stated
that the Save Our Raptors Campaign will be multi-faceted,
including:
Working with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to notify all landfill owners of the problem and potential solutions, including the installation of alternate “safe” perches and attaching spikes to the landfill gas control flares.
Working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program to explore alternative methods for protecting wildlife.
Identifying and working with manufacturers of landfill gas control flares to incorporate bird deterrence into the design of the flare stacks.
Incorporating the issue into 2010 agendas for both NYS Association For Solid Waste Management’s Landfill Training & Certification course and the Federation of New York Solid Waste Association’s annual Lake George Solid Waste & Recycling conference.
According to Michael Wolak, president of the New York State Association for Solid Waste Management, “Landfills already invest millions of dollars in order to protect groundwater, streams and rivers, air quality and adjacent landowners from methane gas migration. Adding spikes to landfill gas flares and installing alternate and taller perches for these birds appears to be very feasible. We need to be doing that as soon as possible.
Ms. Miller, who volunteers with birds of prey, became concerned after several of the nation’s raptor rehabilitators informed colleagues about the horrific injuries they were treating at their facilities. Gary Siftar, of the Oklahoma Raptor Center wrote an article on the topic for the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association’s PRINCIPLES OF WILDLIFE REHABILITATION in the fall of 2008 (article can be found at www.okraptors.org). Another raptor rehabilitator, Bernadette Richter of SOAR, Inc., located in Illinois, has been treating these injuries for almost 10 years. In a move similar to what the Federation is planning, Dianne Moeller of Hoo’s Woods in Wisconsin recently obtained a pledge from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to inspect landfills across that state.
Ms. Miller noted that an online petition drive (www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-our-raptors) has resulted in nearly 5,000 signatures from the US, Canada and Europe. Information about the campaign has also been posted on a Facebook page (the Facebook cause, which has over 450 members, is called Save Our Raptors).
Commenting on the campaign, Al Caccese, Executive Director of Audubon New York, stated that “Here you have citizen volunteers teaming up with not-for-profits, industry representatives and governments and all working on behalf of some of our most prized wildlife. I am encouraged and very hopeful that we will all benefit from this campaign and find ways to continue this cooperation on other issues in the future”.