”
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 $21.3 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.”
Good to see people respond to PETA notices. Pigeon shooting for the sake of stopping bird droppings is not going to be a fair idea.
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/288429.html
Leave a Reply