One of the Services highest priorities is safeguarding this countrys precious migratory birds, said Bill Hartwig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director. I am proud that our law enforcement efforts are bringing harmful facilities like this one to light. Using the monies obtained from these cases to benefit our wildlife, we are able to turn a bad situation into a positive opportunity for migratory birds and their habitat.
Agents were alerted to the hazard after viewing aerial photographs that showed two large areas of exposed oil and oil waste at the facility, which is located in Madison County near the Mississippi River. An on-the-ground investigation in October 1996 turned up remains of birds at the two sites. Several live, oil-covered birds were also found but had to be euthanized due to the toxic effects of the oil. Birds caught or killed in the impoundment included mourning doves, songbirds, and several species of waterfowl, including the state-threatened pied-billed grebe.
The investigation that followed found that Shell was aware of the threats their impoundments posed to migratory birds. Information was discovered that bird deaths caused by oil impoundments at the facility had been documented as far back as 1983. Prior to October 1996, birds such as great horned owls, kestrels, Canada geese, great blue herons, wood ducks, mallards and pied-billed grebes had succumbed to the lethal effects of the impoundments.
Oil pits are indiscriminate killers of wildlife, according to Service Special Agent Paul Beiriger, who investigated the Shell case. The most common victims are birds which mistake the impoundments for open expanses of water in which to rest or feed. If left open and uncovered, oil pits act as magnets to birds, bats, small mammals, and other wildlife.
At Shells Site 15, Beiriger and his colleagues found a 32-foot-deep impoundment covering about 1 million square feet, a third of which was covered with oil. The impoundment was not covered nor were other measures taken to exclude wildlife. Oiled remains of more than a dozen birds were found in and near Site 15. Several live oiled birds were also found but had to be euthanized at the site because of their poor condition.
Agents also found a large area previously used for asphalt waste disposal where liquefied oil sludge was attracting, then entrapping, birds.
"This area was like a giant piece of flypaper," Beiriger said. "Birds were flying in and literally sticking to the surface. The agents found the remains of 27 birds at the asphalt disposal site but were only able to retrieve 23 of them. Two live birds were found stuck to the asphalt material, but agents were able to retrieve only one.
Since Beirigers investigation, the Environmental Protection Agency, acting under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, has ordered Shell to implement emergency measures at the facility to protect migratory birds from exposed oil. At least 120,000 gallons of oil have reportedly been removed from Site 15. The asphalt disposal area has been filled in and covered, but leaks at both sites continue to threaten birds. In September of 1997, one breach at the site was responsible for the death of at least one red-tailed hawk and three mourning doves.
Most of the birds found dead or injured at the Shell site are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a Federal law aimed at conserving raptors, songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, and other bird species. The act carries penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation.
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
