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Centre County airport to kill 15,000 birds
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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Officials plan to poison thousands of birds at a central Pennsylvania airport more than three years after a commercial airline struck a flock there.
As many as 15,000 starlings may be poisoned to reduce the threat.
University Park Airport Director Bryan Rodgers says the U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to use a pesticide on the starlings to help reduce the bird-strike risk.
Mr. Rodgers says the plan comes in response to an incident on Aug. 19, 2006, when a commercial airliner ran into a flock after takeoff.
He says the plane suffered engine damage and had to return to the airport.
A USDA spokeswoman says the starling flock found in the area has about 15,000 to 20,000 birds, and that the department plans to kill about 90 percent of them.
First Published January 15, 2010 10:00 am
