Following the latest warnings that flights in and out of Lebanon’s Beirut airport are at risk because of the large number of birds flying over a nearby garbage dump, reports said Saturday that hunters are shooting down the seagulls which angered environmentalist movements in Lebanon.
A Lebanese environmental movement condemned in a statement on Saturday what it described as the “extermination of seagulls.”
It said hunters are shooting down the birds near the Costa Brava landill, adding that Lebanon is violating the Agreement on Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory waterbirds, LBCI reported Saturday.
The statement said: “Under the eyes of the security forces, and at the beginning of the new term (of President Michel Aoun) and the new government (under PM Saad Hariri), who have vowed to preserve the environment, the seagulls in Costa Brava area are being exterminated at the hands of bird hunters which appeared in photos and videos circulated through social media outlets.”
“The said birds are worldwide protected from hunting, in particular the international convention for the protection of aquatic birds which was signed by the Lebanese State. Lebanon would be violating the international conventions as well as violation of the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea,” added the statement.
On Thursday, Lebanon has closed the Costa Brava landfill which lies at the foot of a runway at the Rafik Hariri International Airport in response to concerns that seagulls circling around the site pose a threat to aircraft safety.
Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos had said that workers were installing ultrasonic noise makers to keep the gulls out of the flight path, after local media reported multiple bird strikes, citing unnamed airport workers.
Birds were seen around the landfill as planes touched down on the opposite end of the runway.
Since authorities opened the landfill last year, environmentalists have warned it would attract large birds, leading to catastrophic strikes if they were sucked into engines.
Lebanon has been grappling with a garbage crisis since authorities were forced to close an overused landfill serving the capital in 2015.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/223753-report-birds-threatening-flights-safety-hunted-down
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Airport’s Bird-Attracting Ponds Removed as Flight Safety Experts Give Ideas
Prime Minister Saad Hariri presided Thursday over an emergency meeting aimed at addressing the risks posed by the presence of a large number of seagulls around Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.
The meeting was attended by the ministers of environment and transport, the head of the Council for Development and Reconstruction, the Cabinet’s secretary-general, Middle East Airlines’ chairman, and Hariri’s adviser on developmental affairs.
“This cell will meet daily if necessary to resolve this problem,” Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos announced after the meeting.
“We have sought help from foreign experts and several ideas have been proposed to protect the environment, planes and flight safety,” Fenianos added.
Among the solutions suggested by experts were the use of pyrotechnics, flare pistols, percussion bombs, auditory repellents and chemical repellents, the minister said.
Moreover, Fenianos announced that authorities have in recent days removed four large holes at the airport that were collecting water and attracting birds.
The minister also said that the committee recommended addressing the issues of sewage water and violations on al-Ghadir River’s banks as well as the presence of poultry, pigeon, turkey and cow farms near the airport.
“Four new auditory repellents have been installed, as promised, at Beirut’s airport and the results today were very good. However, these measures are not enough seeing as they can only keep the birds away for one or two months and there is a need to reinforce these measures,” Fenianos added.
Asked about the mouth of al-Ghadir River, the minister said “specific measures” will be taken by the CDR in the coming days to address the problem.
A judge had on Wednesday ordered the temporary closure of the Costa Brava rubbish dump near the airport “because of the presence of birds” attracted by the garbage.
Costa Brava was opened in March last year as one of three “temporary” tips intended to provide an interim solution after the closure of the main landfill receiving waste from Beirut.
The dumps were eventually intended to have waste processing facilities, but that has not happened.
As a result, garbage has piled up in Costa Brava, on the coastline close to the airport runways, reaching nine meters in some places.
Environmentalists have for months warned that the dump is attracting rodents and increasing numbers of birds.
In August, the Lebanese pilots’ union warned of the possibility of the birds being sucked into airplane engines.
A permanent solution for the waste produced by Beirut and its surroundings has yet to be found, months after the Naameh landfill was shuttered.
The issue is one of many outstanding challenges for Lebanon’s new government, which was formed on December 18 after two and a half years of political deadlock.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/223650-airport-s-bird-attracting-ponds-removed-as-flight-safety-experts-give-ideas
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Judge Orders Costa Brava Dump Shut After Birds Threaten Flights
Mount Lebanon Urgent Matters Judge Hassan Hamdan, issued a decision on Thursday notifying Jihad al-Arab’s company, operating the Costa Brava landfill in Khaldeh area, to abide by an earlier decision for the temporary closure of the dump, until a solution for the birds threatening flights at the Rafik Hariri Airport is found.
The judge has ordered the temporary closure of the rubbish dump near Beirut airport after warnings that birds attracted by the garbage were threatening aircraft safety, a lawyer said.
“There is a court decision… to close the doors and prevent the entry of any trucks,” said Hani al-Ahmadiya, a lawyer and campaigner against the Costa Brava dump.
On Wednesday, Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos acknowledged the problem posed by the increasing numbers of birds at the refuse tip.
“Today we face an emergency… we recognize that there is a danger posed to civil aviation movement by the birds,” he said after a meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
The first measure to counter the threat began Thursday, and Fenianos announced installing additional devices emitting high-pitched frequencies and bird of prey calls to scare away the nuisance birds.
Costa Brava was opened in March last year as one of three “temporary” tips intended to provide an interim solution after the closure of the main landfill receiving waste from Beirut.
The dumps were eventually intended to have waste processing facilities, but that has not happened.
As a result, garbage has piled up in Costa Brava, on the coastline close to the airport runways, reaching nine metres (30 feet) in some places.
Environmentalists have for months warned that the dump is attracting rodents and increasing numbers of birds.
In August, the Lebanese pilots’ union warned of the possibility of the birds being sucked into airplane engines.
Speaking from outside the dump on Thursday, Ahmadiya confirmed that the site was closed to new refuse.
“The decision is only temporary.” he said. “It will be up to the judge whether to extend or rescind it.”
A permanent solution for the waste produced by Beirut and its surroundings has yet to be found, months after the Naameh landfill was shuttered and garbage began piling up on the capital’s streets.
The issue is one of many outstanding challenges for Lebanon’s new government, which was formed on December 18 after two years of political deadlock.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/223624-judge-orders-costa-brava-dump-shut-after-birds-threaten-flights
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Fenianos: Additional Auditory Bird Repellents Installed on RHIA Tarmac
ublic Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos announced on Thursday that the Civil Aviation Directorate began installing additional auditory bird repellents to keep the birds away from the Rafik Hariri International Airport’s tarmac.
“The Directorate began early on Thursday the installment of auditory bird repellents on the airport’s tarmac. The process is under implementation at a rapid pace,” assured Fenianos.
The measures were taken after the issue of birds threatening flight safety at the Beirut airport, surfaced to the spotlight on Wednesday, when MP Walid Jumblat tweeted about the matter.
“We were about to witness a disaster yesterday,” Jumblat had tweeted, urging the pushing of the Costa Brava garbage landfill, which lies close the terminal, away from the airport.
On Wednesday, and after a meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Fenianos said that flights in and out of Beirut airport are at risk because of the large number of birds flying over a nearby garbage dump.
He said that the presence of the Costa Brava dump has contributed to the increasing number of birds.
Although Mount Lebanon Urgent Matters Judge Hassan Hamdan has ordered on Wednesday a “temporary closure of the landfill,” LBCI TV reported from the dump site that normal activity was witnessed Thursday.
The Costa Brava dump was created in March 2016, as one of three “temporary” dumps intended to provide an interim solution to the closure of the main landfill receiving waste from Beirut.
Under a government plan intended to end the crisis caused by the landfill’s closure, the dumps were eventually intended to have waste processing facilities, but that has not happened.
As a result, garbage has piled up in Costa Brava, on the coastline close to the runways at Beirut’s international airport, reaching nine meters in some places and wafting foul odors nearby.
Environmentalists have for months warned that the dump is attracting rodents and increasing numbers of birds, posing potential risk for aviation.
In August, the Lebanese pilots’ union warned of the possibility of the birds being sucked into airplane engines.
Local media reported that on Tuesday a plane belonging to national carrier Middle East Airlines encountered a large flock of birds as it landed on the airport’s west runway, prompting concern.
A permanent solution for the waste produced by Beirut and its surroundings has yet to be found, months after the Naameh landfill was shuttered and garbage began piling up on the capital’s streets.
The issue is one of many outstanding challenges that remain to be resolved by Lebanon’s new government, formed on December 18 after some two years of political paralysis.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/223611-fenianos-additional-auditory-bird-repellents-installed-on-rhia-tarmac
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Hariri Urges Measures to Keep Birds Away from Airport, Judge Orders Landfill Closure
The issue of birds that threaten flight safety at the Rafik Hariri International Airport returned to the spotlight on Wednesday as Prime Minister Saad Hariri ordered measures to keep the birds away and a judge ordered the closure of the controversial Costa Brava garbage landfill.
After talks with Hariri that followed a cabinet session, Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos said the premier instructed the Council for Development and Reconstruction during the meeting to “do everything necessary to push birds away from the airport’s vicinity.”
The setting up of a garbage landfill in the Costa Brava near the airport has largely contributed to increasing the number of birds, mainly seagulls, in the area. The nearby al-Ghadir River also attracts birds to the area.
Fenianos said Hariri also asked the energy and water minister and the head of the CDR to “take immediate measures” at al-Ghadir River to “fend off this threat to flight safety.”
According to the minister, Hariri ordered increasing the number of auditory repellents in the airport’s vicinity and at the Costa Brava landfill.
Fenianos also reassured that according to reports from the airport authorities, “there has been no real threat to flight safety,” noting that the auditory bird repellents “have proved effective.”
“Addressing the mouth of al-Ghadir River is an essential stop to end the problem,” he added.
The activist movement “You Stink” mocked the measures.
“What are you waiting for to close Costa Brava… for a plane to crash or an international decision to shut the airport,” they wrote on Facebook.
“The solution is not to scare the birds away,” they said, urging the dump be closed.
Later in the day, Mount Lebanon Urgent Matters Judge Hassan Hamdan ordered a “temporary closure of the Costa Brava landfill due to the presence of seagulls,” state-run National News Agency reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat called for “pushing the garbage landfill away from Beirut’s airport to avoid a disaster.”
“We were about to witness the disaster yesterday,” he tweeted.
According to LBCI television, a Middle East Airlines plane had encountered “a large group of birds” as it was touching down Tuesday on the airport’s western tarmac.
“This tarmac has been temporarily put out of use pending a solution to the birds issue,” LBCI added.
The Costa Brava dump was created in March 2016, as one of three “temporary” dumps intended to provide an interim solution to the closure of the main landfill receiving waste from Beirut.
Under a government plan intended to end the crisis caused by the landfill’s closure, the dumps were eventually intended to have waste processing facilities, but that has not happened.
As a result, garbage has piled up in Costa Brava, on the coastline close to the runways at Beirut’s international airport, reaching nine meters in some places and wafting foul odors nearby.
Environmentalists have for months warned that the dump is attracting rodents and increasing numbers of birds, posing potential risk for aviation.
In August, the Lebanese pilots’ union warned of the possibility of the birds being sucked into airplane engines.
A permanent solution for the waste produced by Beirut and its surroundings has yet to be found, months after the Naameh landfill was shuttered.
The issue is one of many outstanding challenges that remain to be resolved by Lebanon’s new government, formed on December 18 after some two and a half years of political paralysis.
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/223547-hariri-urges-measures-to-keep-birds-away-from-airport-judge-orders-landfill-closure