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Mills County landfill could be the final resting place for bird carcasses

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 8th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

A site in Mills County could become the final resting place for millions of chickens, turkeys, and at least one flock of ducks who have been killed for having the H5N2 Avian Bird flu. State Senator Mark Costello and Representative David Sieck, of Glenwood, both told the Council Bluffs Daily NonPareil, the birds could end-up at the Loess Hills Regional Sanitary Landfill, near Malvern. The officials have been in talks with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources about the matter.

At least 20 million chickens, 750,000 turkeys and a herd of ducks are among the dead. Turkeys may be disposed of by letting them decompose in piles inside a barn, which creates heat to kill the virus. Chickens would be placed in bags and heated to about 150-degrees to kill the germs before the birds are buried. Composting the remains is also a possibility, but incinerating all of the birds isn’t possible, according to Sieck, because there isn’t enough equipment for the job.

Four Iowa landfills are in talks with the USDA to handle this responsibility. The Mills County landfill is privately owned, which means it can move faster to execute the operation.The landfill has clay liners and gravel underneath, to prevent the spread of remains from leaking out.

So far, none of the dead birds have been moved from their quarantine zones.