Special Agent Paul E. Beiriger, a Service law enforcement agent stationed in Rosemont, Illinois, is on the frontline in the fight to make these sites less deadly to wildlife. Beiriger takes to the air over Illinois each spring with Service agent/pilot Gerald Sommers, on the lookout for potential trouble spots: open tanks, uncovered sludge pits, or lagoons containing a lethal soup of oil floating atop poisonous saltwater brine. These pits and ponds, as well as pools of spilled oil, if left uncovered, act as magnets for birds, bats, small mammals, and other wildlife.
Oil pits are indiscriminate killers of wildlife, but their most common victims are birds. They take songbirds, doves, waterfowl, even large wading birds like great blue herons and raptors such as red tailed hawks and owls. In 1996, Beiriger recorded more than 100 bird deaths among at least 37 species. Most of these birds are Federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act which regulates hunting of game birds and prohibits illegal killing of all species covered under the Act.
But birds arent the only victims. Remains of small mammals are often found, including bats, which skim over uncovered ponds and pits in pursuit of insects. Beiriger often collects carcasses of red bats and hoary bats, and he fears these sites also may be killing imperiled species, such as the rare Indiana bat, protected under the Endangered Species Act.
One of the biggest problems is that oil pits and ponds hide most of their victims. At just one site in Illinois, I found 38 dead birds of 12 different species, and that was probably just the tip of the iceberg, Beiriger said. Were afraid that we never see most of the birds and animals that get into these pits because they just sink to the bottom or disintegrate.
Beirigers arsenal in combating oil pit deaths includes sophisticated satellite geographical positioning equipment that allows him to locate precisely on the ground what he sees from the air. He follows up with a personal investigation of each site, checking for dead or injured birds in pits and ponds, and looking for oil spills as well.
Much of his work is done during hot summer months, and Beiriger has the unpleasant task of sorting through steamy pools of oil sludge, looking for remains of wildlife. Nearby wells give off toxic fumes such as hydrogen sulfide gas. When Beiriger finds carcasses floating on top of pools, he must rake or scoop them out. Some birds escape the deadly pits, only to die nearby, so Beiriger also must scout around the perimeter of ponds and tanks. Carcasses he finds are sent to the Services Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, where positive identification is made.
The results of Beirigers investigations are disturbing. In his flyovers of Illinois during 1996, he spotted nearly 250 sites with uncovered pits, open tanks, or open pools. His on-the-ground searches of approximately 100 of those locations turned up dead wildlife at 32 sites. One notable facility was 15 acres in size, a third of it covered with exposed oil.
Beirigers next step is to inform operators that, pending identification of wildlife remains, they may be in violation of Federal wildlife laws, such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He sends a letter outlining the situation and asking the operator to clean up, cover, or net the open pits and ponds. And, encouragingly, Beiriger has found a high rate of cooperation.
Of 32 operators notified of possible violations last year, 28 cleaned up or covered their ponds within 30 days of receiving his notice, he reports. The remaining four facilities were abandoned and due to be cleaned up by the State of Illinois, which has its own laws regulating operation of oil pits and ponds.
For Beiriger, such quick compliance is the ultimate reward for his hard, sometimes unpleasant work. It is extremely gratifying to know these efforts have an almost instantaneous benefit to wildlife, Beiriger said. Each time one of these problems is corrected, we are literally saving the resource.
So far, merely notifying operators of the potential violation of Federal wildlife laws has done the trick. But just in case, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act carries fines up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, plus possible prison penalties, for each violation.
There are tens of thousands of wells in Illinois, with tanks and pits associated with all active and many abandoned oil fields. Most operators run clean facilities, according to Beiriger, and he is hopeful that those who dont will voluntarily correct their problem sites. But if not, Beiriger says, hell be keeping a watchful eye out on behalf of wildlife.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
