What are your equipment needs-- immediate and future? Depending upon the 

 weather, the location of the spill, and the response time, it may be possible 

 to use bird-hazing equipment. In this regard, some questions should be asked 

 about the hazing equipment. Where are the propane exploders and pyrotechnics? 

 Where can helium balloons be obtained? In the larger metropolitan areas, look 

 in the yellow pages of the telephone directory under "Balloons" or "Advertis- 

 ing Specialities." Birds could be hazed from boats operating in the spill 

 area. If boats are used, experienced drivers will be needed. Where can planes 

 with pilots be obtained? Planes can be used very effectively to haze birds. 



Where is the bird-retrieval equipment? This can include boats with 

 drivers, vehicles with drivers, retrieval nets, boxes with tops, burlap bags, 

 ponchos, maps of the area, compasses, binoculars, and two-way radios. The 

 radios are needed for efficiency and safety of retrieval efforts. If a bird- 

 retrieval crew needs help, it can be sent to them. A first aid kit is essen- 

 tial for every field retrieval crew. Aerial observations can pinpoint the 

 concentrations of waterfowl, either for field retrieval or for harassment. 

 Where is the bird care and rehabilitation equipment? Appendixes E and G of 

 Saving Oiled Sea Birds (1978), published by the American Petroleum Institute, 

 list the physical requirements for a bird care facility and the equipment 

 that should be on hand or readily available. 



Where is the bird rehabilitation center going to be located? If this 

 can be determined in advance, you are ahead of the game. Where is the hot 

 water source? We learned from hard experience during the ATC-133 spill in 

 1978 at our Reedville, Virginia rehabilitation center that hot water is not 

 easy to come by for the inexperienced. The final solution, however, was 

 simple. With a system composed of a steam cleaner, a clean 250-gallon home 

 heating oil tank, and a pressure pump, we had all the hot water we needed. 

 Such equipment is usually available locally. How are the birds going to be 

 dried? Will it be with pet dryers, or will expertise and equipment from 

 organizations such as the International Bird Rescue and Research Center be 

 requested? 



How will the soapy water from the bird cleaning operation be disposed? 

 It should not be dumped into a storm sewer, a septic tank, or on the ground 

 because of the oil and soap contamination. It will have to be deposited in 

 a sewage system capable of treating large concentrations of soap and oil. 

 At Reedville, our wastewater was pumped into a tank trailer and disposed of 

 properly. A great deal of newspaper is used in this operation. How will it 

 be disposed of? For sanitation purposes it may be necessary to use latrines 

 or porta-pots if indoor plumbing is not available. Suppliers of detergents 

 for bird-washing should be identified ahead of time; Amberlux, for example, 

 may be hard to get on short notice 100 miles from a major metropolitan area. 

 Portable swimming pools for birds also should be located in advance; finding 

 portable swimming pools in the middle of the winter is not easy. 



Where is the manpower and equipment located? Is it staged all in one 

 place or is it scattered throughout the area? How can the availability of 



120 



