MONEY

Two landfills slated to accept birds killed by virus

Donnelle Eller
deller@dmreg.com
Dead chickens are buried in a farm field near Rose Acre Farms, near Winterset, Ia., earlier this month.

Two landfills in different corners of Iowa got the green light from state and federal officials Wednesday to begin accepting some of the millions of birds killed in the avian influenza outbreak.

Northwest Iowa Area Solid Waste Agency and Iowa Waste Systems have agreed to accept some of the 27 million chickens, turkeys and ducks that have been infected by avian influenza, a state official says.

"We can't stick our heads in the sand and hope it goes away," said Larry Oldenkamp, director of operations at Northwest Iowa Area Solid Waste Agency. He expects to begin accepting the first of 1.5 million birds Friday. "We need all the options we can get."

PREVIOUSLY: Bird flu hits estimated 26 million chickens, turkeys in Iowa

Also Wednesday, the Metro Waste Authority, serving the Des Moines metro area, agreed to accept birds destroyed by the virus, potentially about 1 million.

But a U.S. Department of Agriculture official said it was unlikely the central Iowa landfill would be asked to provide space. A decision depends on how much the disease continues to grow, said Cris Young, a USDA regional veterinarian.

"I can't say what's going to happen in Iowa tomorrow," said Young, who told the group additional incinerators are being located in northwest Iowa. Metro Waste Authority must still negotiate an agreement with USDA before accepting dead birds.

Metro area leaders grilled Young, landfill leaders and state officials for about two hours about safety protocols in landfilling the birds, and possible legal, financial and environmental risks.

Polk County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith said his board was unanimously opposed to the proposal, given concerns about the risk.

Skip Moore, a Des Moines City Council member, said he supported the proposal, despite differences over legislative and water quality issues.

"If there's a city in the state that can cry foul, it's the city of Des Moines," he said. "But does that mean we don't respond when there's an emergency? No. ... Iowans helping Iowans is what we do."

State and federal officials have struggled to find landfills willing to accept the birds as the deadly, fast-spreading disease has hit Iowa. Sixty-two facilities are believed infected with H5N2, including two more cases reported Wednesday. Nationwide, 39 million birds are infected, mostly in Iowa and Minnesota.

Iowa producers are composting and burying the dead birds on site as well as incinerating them. Wednesday's decision allows landfilling for the first time.

"We'll have to do a little of everything to get through this," Oldenkamp said, adding that the landfill would have begun accepting birds Thursday but rain made newly built access roads impassable. He believes the birds coming from nearby facilities struggling with the virus.

The plan to transport infected birds 200 miles to Iowa Waste Systems' landfill near Malvern in southwest Iowa has upset local residents and state and county officials. They're concerned about nearby poultry operations becoming infected and potentially contaminating groundwater in the years ahead.

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State and federal officials have repeatedly said the birds and associated waste can be safely transported and landfilled.

Biosecurity protocols include using special Bio-Zip bags for each bird to contain and kill the virus, disinfecting trucks, special routes and landfilling practices that include segregation of the birds from other waste and immediately covering them once they're landfilled.

The routes, provided by the Iowa Department of Transportation, could be changed every 24 hours, depending on whether poultry operations have become infected, the state said.

"It's a big, scary deal," said Rep. David Sieck, R-Glenwood. Despite assurances that water from the birds will never leave the landfill, Sieck said he and local residents are concerned about possible long-term water contamination from the birds.

"I don't want the birds headed my way. I'm getting calls and emails from residents and poultry producers every day," Sieck said. "But at this point, I'm going to trust what I've been told from the experts. I don't know what else you can do with that many dead chickens sitting around."

Oldenkamp said his board didn't make a decision until last week to accept the birds because they were concerned about infecting poultry operations near the landfill in northwest Iowa, an area that's been hard-hit by the virus. They've since been infected.

"There's always the 'what ifs,' but we need to do something," Oldenkamp said. "This agency can't handle them all. And every day, there's more and more cases."

The birds infected with H5N2 have nearly reached 27 million across 15 counties, mostly in northwest Iowa. Most of the cases have been at commercial chicken or turkey operations, but five backyard flocks have been infected.

Birds at the infected facilities are quarantined and destroyed. Commercial and backyard flocks within 6.2 miles are quarantined and tested.

Avian influenza is suspected at these farms, due to higher bird deaths. Additional testing will be completed:

  • Sac County: Turkey farm; no estimate available on birds infected.
  • Calhoun County: Turkey farm; no estimate available on birds infected.

State and federal health officials have stressed that they consider the risk to people from the virus to be low. No human infections with the virus have been detected and there is no food safety risk for consumers.