'Friends Of LaGuardia Airport' Working To Stop Construction Of Trash Processing Facility

A group working to stop the construction of a trash processing plant less than half a mile from the end of one of LaGuardia Airport's runways in New York says a recent report from the Department of Transportation's Inspector General on the FAA's wildlife mitigation efforts reinforces their argument that the plant not be built.

Last week, the DOT IG released a report saying the FAA's wildlife mitigation efforts are falling short of their stated goals, and that bird strikes have increased five-fold over the past 20 years. A bird strike famously brought down US Airways Flight 1549 which became known as "The Miracle on the Hudson" when no lives were lost. That flight originated at LaGuardia.

The Boston Globe reports that Ken Paskar, president of Friends of LaGuardia Airport, said he is "relieved" to read that following its review of the FAA's wildlife mitigation practices and procedures, the DOT IG found them lacking. One of his primary objections to the trash processing plant so close to the airport is that it will attract birds which would then become a problem for airplanes operating at the airport.

Paskar has asked that the report be submitted to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which has legal issues related to the plant's construction under review.

(FAA image of bird strike damage from file)

FMI: http://friendsoflga.org/