Plan Set Up To Watch Birds Near Waste Site

By Joseph Orovic

U.S. Reps Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) and Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) have reached an accord with the Federal Aviation Administration to address concerns about potential bird strikes around a $125 million waste transfer station near LaGuardia Airport.

The agreement will see a Dept. of Agriculture on-site biologist monitor bird activity around the 100-foot tall North Shore Marine Transfer Station once a week for the first two years of the enclosed trash pile’s activity. Should there be a noticeable increase in bird activity, the FAA will order the station shut down.

“Just days after the one-year anniversary of the ‘Miracle on the Hudson,’ bird strikes remain a real threat to the neighborhoods surrounding LaGuardia Airport as well as to millions of airline passengers each year,” said Crowley. “The FAA’s bird strike prevention plan is a positive step towards averting a future accident, but the Department of Sanitation should take additional steps to ensure the safety of this facility.”

The move addresses concerns that the MTS would be a boon for nearby bird flocks, which include seagulls and Canada Geese populations. But some argue the program is far from enough.

“The science is flawed. The experimental design is all wrong,” said Dr. Steven Graber, a biologist with bird mitigation experience and one of the project’s more vocal opponents.

According to Graber, the USDA must establish a baseline of bird activity before the station is built and in use. Only then could they gauge if the station truly caused an increase in the bird population.

The choice of agency also irked Graber.

According to the biologist, the USDA’s mishandling of the Canada Geese population caused their spread within the metropolitan area. Also, the agency was charged with gassing about 2,000 geese around the borough last spring, which ultimately did not do enough to dent concerns about their risk towards incoming and leaving jets.

“The people who they chose to do it are the same people who have managed the bird problems all these years, who have created these problems,” Graber said. “They’re not going out and asking who you can trust about this.”

Both Congressmen acknowledged the plan was a concession to general and lingering displeasure about the MTS’ proximity to the airport. “Although we remain opposed to the Department of Sanitation constructing this facility so close to LaGuardia’s runway, it is a positive development that the FAA will closely monitor the bird population in and around the trash station and attempt to mitigate the chances of birds colliding with airplanes,” Ackerman said.

Reach Reporter Joseph Orovic at jorovic@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127.