Published: December 20, 2007 11:53 am      

New Creek ducks may have to be trapped, removed

KEYSER - If supporters of the New Creek ducks don't stop feeding them in the vicinity of the City of Keyser's water filtration plant, there may soon be no ducks left to feed.

Water and Sewer Commissioner Marq Rice announced Tuesday that he received a letter dated Dec. 11 from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Re-sources in regard to the health hazards created by having such a large number of ducks present at the city's water plant intake.

According to the letter, the state's Office of Environmental Health Services has received several phone calls from city residents concerned about "the potential for contamination of the city's water supply."

"They're requiring Butch to go into a 10-month period of extra testing," Rice said, referring to Water Filtration Supervisor Butch Keister.

"Apparently, they're saying duck waste is one of the few things on the earth that chlorination does not always kill," Rice said.

According to Bradley R. Reed, engineer with the Kearneysville District Health Office who wrote the letter, the duck waste increases the potential for polluting the water with cryptosporidium, Giardia and E. coli.

These are the three elements for which Keister will be testing. If the levels exceed what is allowed in a city's water source, Reed said the city "may be required to install additional treatment."

"Basically, it's going to cost the city a lot of money," Rice said.

Rice has been trying to get the ducks - popular with many city residents who grew up with fond memories of feeding them along the banks of New Creek - to move downstream.

Armed with "bird bombs" - cartridges that when shot over the creek, create a loud noise designed to scare the birds into moving away from the immediate area - he has been trying to humanely condition them to take up residence away from the filtration intake.

His efforts to get the ducks to quit congregating around the intake are being undermined, however, by the actions of some well-intentioned residents who still stop in the area to feed the hungry fowl.

Signs directing the bird lovers to a spot below the filtration plant spillway have gone unheeded.

Rice asked Tuesday for permission to replace the existing signs with ones saying, "Absolutely no feeding the ducks."

Councilwoman Sally Burnside also suggested placing a sign downstream saying, "Feed the ducks here."

"If it comes down to it, we can actually approve an ordinance where, if we catch people feeding the ducks, we can fine them," Rice said.

He does not want to have to take that drastic measure, however.

The officials noted that efforts so far to relocate the ducks have garnered some results.

"We started out with 140 ducks and we're down now to less than 30," Rice said.

Even 30, however, is too much for the state.

"This could result in the ducks having to be removed by trapping," Reed wrote.

Rice said the new signs will be erected as soon as they are printed.

Contact Liz Beavers at lbeavers@times-news.com.