Photo: Red-tailed Hawk, Kristen Cart/Audubon Photography Awards
By Jessica Bigger
As some landfills pile up with trash, building excessive amounts of methane, carbon dioxide (CO2), and other greenhouse gases, some landfill owners have installed methane gas burners to reduce the amount of methane entering the atmosphere. However, the downside to methane flaring is that the flame is colorless and fatal for birds flying in the area, especially birds of prey.
Methane gas is one of the major greenhouse gases causing the planet to warm; more so than Carbon Dioxide. (CO2) So, by burning off methane, the gas is converted to a CO2, and other minor greenhouse gases that aren’t as harmful to the atmosphere.
Trash produces 50% methane, 50% CO2, and a small percentage of other gases that enter into the atmosphere, which is why flaring has been used to help reduce the amount of methane gas from entering the atmosphere.
Many landfills are near telephone poles and other tall structures, where hawks and falcons sit. So, when a hawk takes flight near a garbage dump, it may fly too close to the colorless flame, not feeling the heat until it’s too late. Wildlife monitors and rescuers have found numerous birds of prey singed by these flames. In most cases the burns are fatal.
Some garbage dump owners have worked with wildlife advocates to find solutions to the problem. A few have put cages around their methane burners so the birds can see the cage and avoid the methane flare stack. Unfortunately, the winds from a major storm can knock over the cage. This happened at the Kingsland Landfill in New Jersey; it took a while for the cage to be repaired. One way to solve this problem is for owners to check the burner after a storm and fix the cage immediately if it has been damaged.
Although there are some landfill owners willing to mitigate the situation, many are unlikely to install a cage. The cost of installing and maintaining the cage may be one of the reasons many landfill owners choose not to install one.
Wildlife experts have also suggested other solutions, like burying electrical lines so birds can’t perch on telephone poles near landfills, or building taller structures so birds can lift off well above the burners.
In many cases these solutions require cooperation from landowners, but also commitments from local government. As in many situations, even though the changes seem impossible, many conservationist and bird advocates will continue to reach out to landfill owners and local government officials to find a win-win solution for owners and birds of prey.
Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/11/methane-flares-scorching-birds-us-landfills/
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/methane-gas-from-landfills-burns-and-injures-birds/
https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/44736/20201123/methane-gas-flares-scorch-owls-hawks-waste-landfills.htm