Iowa searching for help with millions of dead chickens

With nearly a dozen more bird flu cases reported in Iowa last week, state and federal officials find themselves struggling with a nearly overwhelming task — disposing of mountains of dead chickens, turkeys and ducks — nearly 26 million in all — that are casualties of the deadly virus.

Landfills in South Dakota, Nebraska and northwest Iowa, where poultry producers have been the hardest hit, have turned away the dead birds, fearful of the risk of contamination.

The problem is so severe that on Friday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stepped in to urge landfills to accept some of the millions of birds killed or destroyed by the H5N2 virus, saying delays could exasperate odors and flies, problems neighbors have already complained about in some parts of the state.

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Vilsack's message was echoed the week before by Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, and Chuck Gipp, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, who beseeched landfill operators around Iowa to accept some of the millions of carcasses.

They said the state could see "tens of millions" infected turkeys and chickens before the outbreak is brought under control.

An expensive operation

Vilsack told Radio Iowa on Friday that only one landfill has agreed to accept dead birds, but the company wanted "several times more" than normal landfill fees.

Robert Glebs, CEO of Iowa Waste Systems, near Malvern in southwest Iowa, said accepting the dead birds will require the private company to take extra steps that are expensive, including purchasing insurance to protect the private business from lawsuit.

State and federal officials have said the birds and associated waste could be transported without contaminating other poultry operations along the route. Other states, say officials, have successfully disposed of birds infected during earlier avian influenza outbreaks.

Protocols include using special Bio-Zip bags for each bird to contain and kill the virus, disinfecting trucks, special routes and landfilling practices that include segregation of the birds from other waste and immediately covering them once they're landfilled.

"It's not going to be cheap, but it's not going to be exorbitant," said Glebs, adding that the Mills County landfill, about 200 miles from the northwest Iowa H5N2 epicenter, is ready to begin accepting dead birds.

Metro Waste Authority, serving the Des Moines metro area, also is considering accepting dead birds and waste, although no decision has yet been made.

A landfill in Scott County has been asked whether it could help as well. It would be up to 400 miles away from northwest Iowa, where most of the dead birds are.

But Scott County officials aren't thrilled about thousands upon thousands of dead chickens being trucked into their territory.

"We're hopeful that they will find options that are local and the material will not have to cross the state," said Kathy Morris, executive director of Waste Commission of Scott County.

Still, she said, "we understand that this is a state disaster. We would be prepared to help if needed."

In addition to landfilling, birds killed by avian influenza can be composted or buried on-site and incinerated.

States offer little help

But the sheer number of dead birds has prompted Iowa to call landfills hundreds of miles away or across their borders to help, with little or no luck.

Brian McManus, a spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, said the state is not providing landfills guidance about accepting the waste. However, the state considers landfilling the last disposal option because of contamination concerns.

Nebraska just experienced its first case of avian influenza recently in Dixon County, a farm with 1.7 million chickens across the Missouri River from Sioux City.

Like Iowa, Minnesota has struggled with avian influenza, infecting nearly 5.8 million birds, mostly turkeys, at 88 farms in 21 counties. State leaders also are urging landfills to accept the infected birds.

A Minnesota official said no requests had been made to landfill Iowa birds, but the state probably wouldn't accept them if asked.

"Infected carcasses could not be moved without a permit, and the Minnesota Board of Animal Health would be unlikely to permit movement for such purposes," he said.

USDA under fire

Iowa's mounting frustration with the epidemic has brought the USDA's response under fire.

Last week, Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst sent a letter to Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, expressing concern about whether the state had adequate resources to combat and contain the disease.

The USDA responded that it has deployed hundreds of additional staff in 20 states and invested tens of millions of dollars in payments to producers. More than 85 USDA officials alone are in Iowa, "and more are on the way," the agency said.

Gretta Irwin, executive director of the Iowa Turkey Federation, said additional equipment needed to euthanize turkeys has been arriving in the state. Earlier last week, producers were waiting days for help, while the fast-moving virus spread.

With the added equipment and a slight pause in new cases, Irwin said she hoped all the infected operations would be fully depopulated this week.

More help may be on the way in several weeks, as an Ames company works with the USDA to test a new vaccine. The vaccine would be injected in eggs, young chickens or older birds to prevent them from getting the virus, which can kill birds within 48 hours.

Harrisvaccines officials said it would be most useful in large operations that already have been hit by the virus and are ready to begin raising birds again. But it could take several weeks or months before the vaccine gets to producers.

No human cases have been found, and health officials have said the strain poses a low risk to the public.

Bringing in incinerators

Iowa also might get some help with disposing of the birds after they've been destroyed.

Clean Harbors, a Massachusetts company that's contracted with USDA to help producers euthanize, dispose and decontaminate operations, said it's bringing a large incinerator to Cherokee County. Two smaller incinerators already have been sent to northwest Iowa.

Eric Kraus, a spokesman for the company, said Clean Harbors has pulled workers and equipment into Iowa from across the region to battle the disease's spread.

So far, Iowa has reported 52 cases in 14 counties. Clean Harbors' workforce has grown to 1,000, and it's hiring workers in Iowa.

Rep. Dave Sieck, R-Glenwood, said he hopes producers will be able to incinerate the birds in northwest Iowa and avoid transporting them to his home district in southwest Iowa.

Sieck said he's been told the larger incinerator would dramatically increase the number of birds that could be destroyed — from about 12,000 birds an hour to 120,000 an hour.

It would relieve many area residents and producers, Sieck said.

"People's concerns are huge," Sieck said, including possible contamination of poultry operations to long-term concerns about water contamination. That's despite being reassured about heightened biosecurity and landfill designs that prevent waste or liquid from leaving the site.

"I understand it's a complicated issue, but I don't want the birds in my area," he said. "The sooner we get these birds disposed of, the sooner the disease will go away."

Town meetings

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst plans to hold town meetings in northwest Iowa, hard-hit by avian influenza, on Saturday to hear from producers and residents about the disease's effect.

Among those who Ernst has invited to attend: U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, U.S. Rep. Steve King, Bill Northey, Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture, and representatives from the Iowa Egg Council, Iowa Poultry Association, Iowa Farm Bureau and the Iowa Turkey Federation.

Last week, Ernst and Grassley sent a letter to U.S. Secretary Tom Vilsack expressing concern about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's response, questioning whether adequate resources had been sent to the state, one of 20 with operations struggling with the virus. The agency said it has sent hundreds of workers in to states with infected flocks and pumped millions of dollars to help devastated producers.

Saturday's scheduled town meetings:

• Osceola County: 9:30 a.m. Cooperative Energy, 1708 Pierce Ave., Sibley.

• Lyon County: 11:15 a.m., Rock Rapids Public Library, 102 S Greene St, Rock Rapids.

• Sioux County: 1:45 p.m., De Yager Student Activities Center in the Campus Center at Dordt College, 498 4th Ave NE, Sioux Center.