Despite calls to abandon the project, the city’s Department of Sanitation is continuing plans to construct a Marine Transfer, according to a recent statement by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg made the statement along with an announcement that city, state and federal officials were engaged in a program to, among other things, “collect and dispose of” some 2,000 of the birds in city parks and around JFK and LaGuardia airports.
Notables from Congressmember Gary Ackerman to U.S. Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who successfully landed Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after a collision with a flight of Canada geese in January, have called for the project to be abandoned.
According to a statement from the Mayor’s office, “Canada geese, which are herbivores, are not known to gather at waste transfer stations.” Bloomberg also cited findings by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA.)
According to the Mayor’s office, the FAA has confirmed that the proposed North Shore Marine Transfer Station, a three-story facility to empty garbage trucks and fill barges, “is outside of the Runway Protection Zone for LaGuardia Airport and compatible with safe aircraft operations.”
“The FAA issued a ‘No Hazard Determination’ for the facility. The proposed transfer station also conforms to FAA advisory circular 150/5200-33B, which provides guidance on wildlife attractants near airports,” Bloomberg said in his statement.
The city will implement preventive measures to reduce the station’s attractiveness to birds, with guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and FAA-qualified airport biologists, according to the statement.
These measures include: cleaning the access roadway and parking facility daily; ensuring the exterior of containers and vehicles are free of debris when entering and exiting; and conducting extensive monitoring of the interior and exterior of the Marine Transfer Station on an ongoing basis.
According to the city, a combination of sealed containers, rapid roll-up doors and operating procedures will guarantee that, “At no time in the entire process will waste be exposed to the outside environment.”
Bloomberg’s statement noted that, “this enclosed waste transfer operation incorporates significant technological and operational improvements that are already in place at the Sanitation Department’s Staten Island Rail Transfer Station.”
Pointing out that the new, improved facility would be similar in design and function, Bloomberg said, “Since opening in 2006, the Staten Island facility has operated exceptionally well, and has not attracted birds.”
