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Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report Page IV.A-16 '
<br /> Forward Inc.Landfill 2018 Expansion Project
<br /> Pigeon, a European Starling,unidentified small birds (4), and two unidentified birds. No gulls
<br /> were involved and none of the birds struck were attracted to the area by the landfill (Davis
<br /> 2017).
<br /> The project applicant has a program to survey gull populations in the vicinity of the landfill.
<br /> Forward Landfill safety procedures include monitoring bird populations at the site. Prior to the
<br /> implementation of the bird control program at the landfill,bird surveys(conducted over a '
<br /> period of at least 1.5 hours on a single day) observed 500 gulls on February 23,2005, 661 gulls in
<br /> January 2007, 75 gulls on January 14,2009, and 400 gulls on February 10,2010(Schneider,2005;
<br /> Stagnaro,2009). '
<br /> At the Forward Landfill, a pilot gull control program,using falconers with trained falcons to
<br /> lure and chase gulls,was conducted between March 9, 2010 and April 14, 2010 (Davis,2013;See '
<br /> Appendix D of the 2013 FEIR for a copy of this report). The pilot program was successful in
<br /> reducing gulls at the landfill site;one gull was observed on March 10,2010 by a consulting
<br /> biologist who is independent of both the gull control consultant and the project sponsor. '
<br /> (Stagnaro,2010;See Appendix D of the 2013 FEIR). After the end of the pilot gull control
<br /> program,44 and 65 gulls were observed on September 22 and 23,2010,respectively,by the
<br /> independent third-party consulting biologist. (Stagnaro,2011;See Appendix D of the 2013 EIR). '
<br /> As a result of the success of the pilot gull control, a permanent gull control program was
<br /> initiated by Forward Landfill on September 27,2010. This program consists primarily of '
<br /> falconry, and expanded on the pilot program discussed in the previous paragraph to include
<br /> use of bird flares, remote-controlled airplanes that resemble predatory birds,whistles, and other
<br /> noisemakers to discourage birds. The program employs falcons directed by a falconer, '
<br /> supplemented by pyrotechnics to frighten gulls away when weather conditions make use of
<br /> falcons difficult(e.g., foggy and stormy conditions). During an observation on December 2,
<br /> 2010 by an independent third-party consulting biologist, 18 gulls were observed approaching at '
<br /> a high elevation;the falconer flew one of his birds and the gulls left the area. Later on the same
<br /> day, one gull scouted the area but left. The use of falcons is reported to have been fully
<br /> effective;no gulls landed on or approach within close proximity to the site during a survey by '
<br /> an independent biologist conducted in December 2010. (Stagnaro,2011;see Appendix D of the
<br /> 2013 EIR). During the 2011-2012 winter season,no gulls were observed at the landfill during a
<br /> survey conducted in April 2012. (Yakich,2012; see Appendix D of the 2013 EIR). No gulls were '
<br /> observed at the landfill in four surveys conducted since the preparation of the 2013 EIR, in April
<br /> 2013,April 2014,June 19, 2015;and June 7,2017 respectively. (Yakich, 2013,Yakich,2014;
<br /> Valcarel,2015;and Teichman, 2017;see Appendix D).
<br /> In addition to the biologist's surveys described above, observations are made by an '
<br /> independent observer as part of the bird control program,to provide added oversight. The
<br /> independent observer noted two cases on Thursday, February 7,2013 where gulls began '
<br /> feeding at the active face. In both cases,the gulls were able to begin feeding but were deterred
<br /> by the control program prior to reaching the site-specific failure criteria. Forward staff was
<br /> notified regarding the gull incidents. Based on discussions with landfill staff, it appears that the '
<br /> position of the active face may have prevented the controllers from observing the gull landings.
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