Pilots and environmental advocates plan to go before Austin City Council Thursday to argue against the expansion of a landfill located near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Jeffrey Jacoby, deputy director for Texas Campaign for the Environment, said the group will speak around noon at City Hall and will argue that the expansion should be rejected because it will attract more birds and increase the potential of airplanes hitting them.
Travis County Regional Landfill, which does not accept materials that decay like food waste, would increase its lifespan by about 13 years if the 36-acre expansion goes forward. An official hearing will be held at City Hall on March 26.
However, Jacoby and other advocates believe the landfill does allow decaying material to slip through its gates, which they say attract birds to the area. Jacoby said he will present photo and video evidence proving birds are an issue at the landfill.
“It’s highly doubtful you would have turkey buzzards frequenting the dump if there was not rotting waste,” Jacoby said.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in December reported a total of 175 bird strikes within a 5-mile radius of the airport, with closely the same number the year before.
However, Mandy McClendon, communications manager for the airport, said Wednesday there is no data directly linking the nearby landfill to those strikes.
Airport officials told the council they have no objection to the landfill expansion, McClendon said.
Jacoby said his group plan to hold a news conference outside City Hall at 11:30 a.m.
“Expanding the landfill is unnecessary and in direct contradiction with the city’s zero waste goals,” Jacoby said. “The expansion would put in danger the flying public for the next 13 or so years.”
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