Mississippi closed by oil spill, huge bird scaring operation to start

28/07/2008 12:03:02 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is directing the installation of 100 propane cannons designed to scare birds away from the recently contaminated marshes and swamps along the Mississippi River.

The Mississippi was contaminated on 23 July when a barge collided with an oil tanker and hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel oil spilled into the river. 150 Kms of the river has been closed to traffic, from New Orleans to the Gulf Coast, costing local industry hundreds of millions of dollars.

The propane cannons will ignite propane gas to produce loud explosions at timed or random intervals. They will be located in areas of high use by water birds like egrets, herons and ducks, and moved around every few days.

"The noise is extremely loud," said Buddy Goatcher, Contaminants Specialist with the FWS. "We are placing the cannons mostly in the swamps inside the levees, to keep feeding birds from oiled areas."

"While these cannons are useful tools to frighten birds, they could pose a threat to anyone getting within 500 feet of one," said Goatcher. "To insure safety, please stay away from them."

The noise-making operation is expected to continue until the swamp areas are cleaned.