The dangers that bird strikes pose to air travel and the communities surrounding airports has become part of a national conversation in the wake of the crash landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15.
It is an issue I have been dealing with for the past several years, in particular regard to the New York City Department of Sanitation’s plan to construct a garbage transfer tower just 1,900 feet from the end of LaGuardia Airport’s eastern runway in College Point, Queens.
Last week, I wrote to the Acting Administrator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – my third correspondence with agency officials since 2006 – about my continuing concern over the increased threat of bird strikes that the facility may bring to planes landing and taking off from LaGuardia.
Last September, the FAA determined in an aeronautical study that the trash tower, formally known as a Marine Transfer Station (MTS), was not a hazard to air navigation. However, in my correspondence to Administrator Lynne Osmus, I asked whether her agency is reconsidering its determination in light of Flight 1549 and other reported bird strikes across the country.
In my previous correspondence on this issue, in November 2006 and January 2007, I outlined my concern about building the now 100 foot tall MTS in the path of Runway 13-31, and the risk of birds being naturally attracted to the facility.
We are all aware of the danger birds pose to planes. It is an indisputable fact. Even from a layman’s vantage point, such as mine, I find it difficult to believe that with garbage trucks lined up, waiting to dump their trash at the facility or with trash raised 100 feet in the air, hungry birds would not be eagerly gathering about and circling above.
Wisely, the FAA itself has previously determined that birds hovering near waste-transfer sites pose a threat to aircrafts. As a result, the FAA set up minimum distances from airports where these types of facilities should be built. I don’t know why the FAA would choose to make LaGuardia the exception to this logical policy.
It is deeply troubling that the Department of Sanitation still has a green light from the FAA for this $125 million sanitation transfer station that will bring 2,700 tons of garbage a day and be located at the mouth of the runway. The fact that this project is still being considered defies logic and reason.
As I stated in my previous letters to the FAA, a review of its own protocol on “Hazardous Wildlife Attractants on or Near Airports” reveals that the agency has two clearly stated criteria. These include:
1) A 10,000 foot separation between an airport operating jet aircrafts and a waste disposal facility and;
2) A distance of at least five miles between a waste disposal operation and approach or departure airspace.
At 1,900 feet from the end of an active runway, the proposed MTS falls well within both hazard areas.
Although the garbage station would be encapsulated, we all know that garbage trucks usually leak liquids and slimy substances. Imagine the stench and amount of discharge that would accumulate when dozens of garbage trucks line up and wait to pull inside the facility.
According to FAA guidelines, trash transfer facilities that store uncovered quantities of municipal waste outside, even if only for a short time, do not meet FAA’s definition of a fully enclosed trash transfer station. The FAA considers these facilities incompatible with safe airport operations if they are located closer than the separation distances
In the interest of ensuring the safety of the flying public and the communities surrounding LaGuardia Airport, I have asked the FAA to explain how the College Point facility complies with the agency’s protocols, and why, in its determination, it will not increase the threat of bird strikes for planes landing and taking off from LaGuardia.
I will update you when and if we hear back.
Representative Gary Ackerman is a Democrat representing Queens and Long Island.
