Lead Paint Poisoning Thousands of Albatrosses

Government Funds Not Available for Cleanup on Midway Atoll

December 2006. Lead poisoning is killing thousands of Laysan Albatrosses every year on Midway Atoll, part of the recently created North-western Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. The Laysan albatross, thousands of which are now nesting on Midway, is globally listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union.

‘Laysan chicks raised in nests close to buildings left behind by the Navy are ingesting lead-based paint chips. This is causing very high lead concentrations in their blood, leading to severe neurological disorders, and eventual death,’ said George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy (ABC). ‘Federal funds are urgently needed to cleanup this toxic mess to protect the Laysan Albatross as well as future visitors to the new Marine National Monument.’

Scientific studies have shown that Laysan Albatross chicks are eating lead-based paint chips peeling off of 95 aging buildings on the island, and that as many as 10,000 chicks (5% of hatched chicks) may die from exposure to lead-based paint. Many Laysan chicks that nest within approximately 15 feet of building structures exhibit a condition referred to as ‘droopwing’ which commonly manifests itself in the chicks’ inability to raise their wings, which drag on the ground resulting in broken bones and open sores.

 

Chicks with droopwing will never be able to fly, and will die of starvation or dehydration. Other chicks within close proximity to buildings that ingest paint chips also suffer detrimental effects from lead exposure. These chicks have blood lead concentrations that cause immunological, neurological, and renal impairments, significantly decreasing their chances of survival.

‘This level of mortality in Laysan chicks hinders efforts to conserve this species and could have population-level impacts,’ said Jennifer Arnold, Director of American Bird Conservancy’s Seabird Program. ‘Midway Atoll hosts the largest nesting colony for this species in the world, making this cleanup effort a top priority.’

The US Department of Interior (DOI) estimates that $5.6 million is needed to cleanup the toxic lead paint on Midway Atoll. The 95 federally-owned government buildings must be stripped of all lead-based paint, and sand surrounding these old buildings needs to be thoroughly sifted to remove lead paint chips.

When American Bird Conservancy staff presented the severity of this growing threat to an already-imperiled bird species to top US Department of Interior officials, they were told that the new Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument did not currently have any federal funds or resources dedicated to its operation. Moreover, the DOI officials stated that the current federal budget for the nation’s wildlife refuge system would be insufficient to prevent the continued ingestion of lead paint by Laysan chicks. ABC is calling on the administration to include clean up funds in the FY 2008 budget to be released in February.

Courtesy of the American Bird Conservancy.