Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008

Hanford pigeon shoot subject of PETA attention

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

A complaint to the animal rights group PETA has stopped the practice of shooting pigeons at Hanford's vitrification plant, at least for now.

Earlier this summer, about 130 pigeons were shot and killed with air rifles over two days to try to reduce the problem of bird droppings fouling equipment and work areas of the plant, which is under construction.

But a second shoot planned for August was canceled after a worker notified People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, and the group contacted the Department of Energy.

"We were very happy they were so willing to talk to us," said Tori Perry, a PETA cruelty case worker in the emergency response division. It discussed its concerns with DOE and also its contractor, Bechtel National.

An estimated 70 to 80 birds still are living in the Pretreatment Facility, the largest building being built at the $12.3 billion plant to turn some of Hanford's worst radioactive waste into a solid glass form.

Usually pigeons are not a problem at construction sites because the noise and activity keeps them away, said Drew Slaton, spokesman for DOE contractor Bechtel National.

But most construction on the Pretreatment Facility and the High Level Waste Facility stopped for nearly two years to make sure that the design standard for the two buildings was adequate for a severe earthquake.

During the lull pigeons found the Pretreatment Facility, with its many holes for extensive piping systems and honeycombs of rebar. With construction resumed now, they are creating a risk to worker health and safety, Slaton said.

Pigeon droppings fall from the roosts, hitting equipment and making work areas slippery. Workers who do construction at the building's highest levels may be startled as the birds suddenly fly out, Slaton said. The building will be taller than a 10-story building when completed.

There also is concern that the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has identified a respiratory illness called histoplasmosis that construction workers are susceptible to if they work around pigeon droppings.

Bechtel National has tried or considered several nonlethal ways to clear the work site of pigeons, Slaton said.

It tried periodic soundings of a noise maker, but that didn't deter the birds. It also put up large plastic owl decoys. The pigeons roosted right next to them.

Poison was considered, but ruled out because Bechtel National didn't want to introduce it into the food chain or kill other birds.

In other cases, Bechtel National has found ways to remove unwanted animals from the construction site. That has included having a beekeeper pick up hives and capturing and removing rattlesnakes. Cats also have found their way to the remote construction site and workers have either adopted them and taken them home, or the cats have been caught in live traps and taken to the Humane Society.

But Bechtel National ran out of options on the pigeons and finally contacted Hanford site pest control, which shot the pigeons during construction off hours, Slaton said.

After talking to PETA, Bechtel National canceled the second planned shoot and agreed to look into ways recommended by PETA to reduce the population.

But so far, none of those methods has seemed practical, Slaton said.

Suggestions have included climbing up to the nests and replacing eggs with rubber eggs or shaking them to keep them from hatching. Not only would the climb to high construction areas pose a risk to workers, but it would also only gradually reduce the populations of birds, Slaton said.

Other suggestions were not practical for an active construction site, Slaton said. They included adding spike strips to prevent pigeons from landing, but that's impossible in the networks of rebar placed already at the Pretreatment Facility. Netting areas to close up holes also doesn't work on a building that's constantly changing as workers continue construction, Slaton said.

Talks on other options are ongoing, Perry said.

"At this time no further culls are planned," she said. "We hope to work with them to find methods that are not lethal."

Bechtel National agrees that none are scheduled.

"But we have not identified any other viable option and we need to protect worker health and safety," Slaton said. It cannot allow the problem to continue indefinitely, he said.