King County plans to use fireworks to scare off trash-loving eagles from landfill

Bald eagles are creating a nuisance for the Cedar Hills landfill and people in the area.

Neighbors say the eagles are dropping trash in people’s yards. Now King County will be trying new methods to get the eagles out – and those tactics include fireworks.

“We process nearly a million tons of garbage a year,” said Pat McLaughlin, the county’s solid waste director.

You wouldn’t think of it as a hotspot, for wildlife, but you’d be wrong.

From seagulls to eagles! 🦅 Birds have caused a.. fowl problem at the King County landfill for years. But recently, hundreds of trash-loving bald eagles are really creating a nuisance.

Now King County has applied for a special permit to use fireworks to scare them away!💥 #KIRO pic.twitter.com/cwUWM0ifWN

— Deedee Sun (@DeedeeKIRO7) February 19, 2020

“There are a number of different species here,” McLaughlin said.

Birds alone include flocks of starlings, roosting seagulls, frequent ravens, and in the past few years, a new addition.

“Even the precious bald eagle,” McLaughlin said.

In fact, bald eagles at the landfill are thriving.

McLaughlin estimated the number as “a couple of hundred for sure.”

For most birds, King County uses tools like a noise cannon to scare them off.

But for eagles, McLaughlin said the county doesn’t have many options.

“We really can’t do much with eagles, given their protected status,” he said.

KIRO7 saw a young eagle hanging out on a pipe just a few yards away from people – perched, overlooking the landfill, surveying what might be its next dinner.

It was also near the noisemaker. And when eagles are close by, King County can’t use it.

“Which is why we’ve applied for a special permit,” McLaughlin said. The Seattle Times first reported the county’s application for the permit, which would allow them to use the noisemakers they already have, and use other measures – like fireworks.

“Those techniques include the use of pyrotechnics,” McLaughlin said.

Since the eagles in the area started multiplying, people in nearby neighborhoods have been feeling the impact.

“There were about a dozen this morning flying around,” said David Vogel, who lives a mile west of the landfill – as the bird flies – or 9 miles driving.

The eagles are dropping garbage, such as plastic bags and food waste.

“Put it in the trash, and it goes over there and comes back. It’s like Groundhog Day,” Vogel said.

Vogel said the new methods might help with the trash problem, but he also has concerns.

Now we’re going to have to listen to fireworks all year long,” he said.

While we were talking, one of the booms from the noise cannon rang out.

“One of the reasons you live out here is the peace and quiet. Versus the — there it goes,” Vogel said. (Of course for Vogel and many other neighbors in the area, they’d prefer for the landfill to be shut down all together – but those plans dissolved last year.)

King County said it has an obligation to try and get a handle on all the eagles.

“We are trying to manage waste here, and having too much of any species can get in the way of our operations,” McLaughlin said.

The county explained that one reason it needs to keep the other birds away from the landfill is all the bird droppings. They said the volume can be so extreme that it can harm equipment and make it difficult to do work.

King County expects to get the permit to start trying to scare off eagles sometime this year.

Written by Deedee Sun