By SAMANTHA PERRY
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
—
It was a fowl situation in Bluefield, Va., earlier last week. Ducks, contaminated from the fuel oil spill in Beaver Creek and the Bluestone River, were camping out at Asbury Park in the town square.
They were noticeably miserably. Noticeably lethargic. Noticeably ill. And, sadly, getting noticeably sicker by the day.
Reporting on the consequences and cleanup of the diesel spill, we at the Daily Telegraph attempted to find out details about rehabilitation of the wildlife. Unfortunately, getting answers wasn’t that easy.
I asked our reporters to ask officials about the number of ducks cleaned up, and the time frame on getting the remaining water fowl cleaned. We knew there was a problem. We were seeing, smelling and photographing the distressed ducks on a daily basis. Regrettably, we got the hedge.
The hedge is a well-known move that has been perfected by government officials. Sometimes it’s used when someone honestly does not know the answer to our questions; other times it’s utilized when they don’t want to answer.
By Wednesday of last week, I was tired of the hedge, and decided it was time to pin down our officials on the state of the ducks. The pin sounds like a wrestling move — and it kinda is, except we can’t use bodily force in our efforts to demand an answer.
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The duck story evolved over several days. In an effort to help out our reporting staff on Tuesday, I tag-teamed with reporter Kate Coil on two stories about the diesel spill. One story detailed the environmental dangers of the spill, and I contacted long-time source Wendy Perrone of the Three Rivers Avian Center in Brooks, W.Va., to get details of the potential impact on birds and wildlife.
Wendy provided me with the information I needed, and ended the call with the statement, “If you need our help down there, let me know.”
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On Wednesday, tired of the “we think” answers we were receiving in response to questions about the wildlife, I contacted all the agencies involved, and pointedly asked them if they had cleaned up any ducks, and when help would be coming for the remaining waterfowl impacted by the spill. On that day, reporter Greg Jordan counted nine diesel-soaked ducks in Asbury Square.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality told me the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries had cleaned up the ducks. Yet a spokesman for Game and Inland Fisheries said, “No,” they had only taken water samples and photos.
During the course of the interviews, I mentioned that an avian rehab center in West Virginia had offered to help. The response was a little surprising. I was told the ducks could not be transported over state lines.
Seriously?
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Ducks, raptors, songbirds and more fly across our state borders on a daily basis. Yet if a human transports an ill bird across the line to get treatment, it could be a criminal offense.
Where’s the common sense?
Trying to obtain these answers Wednesday morning put me in a fowl ... er foul, mood. When I prepared to head out for lunch, I noticed our newsroom staffing was light. I had one quick errand to run for lunch, and attempted to put City Editor Charles Owens — the only other staffer in the newsroom — at ease, by telling him I had to run to Bluefield, Va., and then I’d be right back.
Charles looked up from his computer in horror, asking “You’re not going to go get those ducks, are you?”
Smiling, I replied, “If you hear a quacking in my purse this afternoon, please look the other way.”
For the record, I did not smuggle any ducks across the state line. But it was tempting.
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I remained on my duck campaign throughout the afternoon. Could we as a staff go to the park, make lots of noise and coerce the ducks to move the few hundred feet across the state line? Or would that be considered conspiracy of illegal fowl immigration?
As ridiculous as it all sounded, it seemed we were stuck between two state bureaucracies.
Around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, I received a much-welcomed call from Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries. They appreciated the Telegraph’s help in providing the Three Rivers Avian Center as a means of help, and they had contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about transporting the affected ducks to the West Virginia rehab center.
I was thrilled to receive the call, but it also emphasized the red tape that exists in government today. Thousands of illegal immigrants cross our border with Mexico on a monthly basis, yet we had to have federal intervention to transport a few diesel-soaked ducks from Virginia to West Virginia for rehab.
The Interstate Duck Issue of 2010 should serve as a reminder to us all of the lack of common sense that sometimes exists in government today. Instead of doing what’s obviously right, it becomes a matter of doing what falls within the myriad of regulations.
Fortunately, through the help of the Three Rivers Avian Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, volunteers in Bluefield, Va., Dr. Bill Streit of All Creatures Great and Small Veterinary Clinic and others, the waterfowl were transported to West Virginia Thursday for rehabilitation.
Let’s hope the next time these ducks need to cross the state line, they’ll be able to fly across on their own.
Samantha Perry is managing editor of the Daily Telegraph. Contact her at sperry@bdtonline.com
