Norfolk International Airport (KORF), Virginia
A local environmental advocacy group filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to halt the removal of bald eagle nests near Norfolk International Airport.
Federal law says bald eagles can only be moved as a last resort to protect people or the birds. The city claimed in a permit application that the proximity of the eagles to the airport endangered travelers.
But the group, Eagle On Alliance, contends in Wednesday’s filing that the federal agency did not require the city to pursue alternatives to removing the nests and that biologists have said destroying them wouldn't likely keep the eagles away.
Since October, seven nests have been removed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services Division. Officials have used fireworks, lights and paintball guns to shoo the two eagles away when they've returned.
In the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, the group says it hopes to stop the destruction of the nests before the eagles’ nesting season starts in the fall. The city’s permit expires Oct. 31.
The effort to relocate the eagles was spurred by a strike in April 2011, in which a female eagle eating a fish at the end of a runway was killed by a landing jet. Over the last 10 years, the airport has reported 236 wildlife strikes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, including seagulls, geese and foxes. Of those, three involved bald eagles.
Story and Comments/Reaction: http://hamptonroads.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment