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Demolition of a crumbling grain elevator has been halted as wildlife officials seek to determine for sure whether there are any eggs or chicks inside the nest of a red-tailed hawk discovered at the 210-foot-tall concrete structure.
Village officials, meanwhile, are concerned about the structural stability of the grain elevator just 15 feet away from the Milwaukee suburb's Miller Park Way, which carries 30,000 vehicles a day.
"Worst case scenario, we get very high winds and that thing could come over,'' Village Engineer Len Roecker said.
Archer Daniels Midland Co., based in Decatur, Ill., closed its ADM Milling operations in the village in 2004 and agreed through a village-initiated court action to raze the grain elevator by June of this year. A portion of Miller Park Way has been closed during parts of the day since April 22 because of the demolition.
After the hawks were spotted, the village contacted the state Department of Natural Resources, which sent a biologist to the site this week.
``The birds will move once the building is taken down, so they won't be threatened themselves,'' said Jim McNelly, the DNR's southeast region wildlife and endangered resources program supervisor. ``The question is: Are there eggs or fledgling chicks in the nest?''
McNelly noted that all migratory birds are protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Village officials put a weight on the end of a crane and fastened a video camera to the weight and ran it over the top of the nest. They said they did not spot any eggs or juvenile chicks.
But that did not satisfy wildlife officials, and project will remain on hold for now, Roecker said.
Ben Nelson, a federal wildlife specialist, said federal officials want to get a look at the video themselves.
``Obviously we want to do it as fat as we can because the quality of the building is not 100 percent anymore,'' he said.
Roecker said everyone hopes the matter can be resolved soon.
``Everyone needs to keep in mind you have a structure that has public safety hazards associated with it if nothing is done for a long period of time,'' he said.
[font=Verdana]Workers demolishing a building in [/font][font=Verdana]Luzerne[/font][font=Verdana] [/font][font=Verdana]County[/font][font=Verdana] have been forced to change their plans in the name of motherhood. A duck has made a nest near the work site and workers are being told not to disturb the expectant mother.[/font]
[font=Verdana]The mallard made the motherly decision to lay her eggs there, tucked away in the leaves and other debris near a construction fence at the West Side Mall in Edwardsville. Construction crews wanted to knock down a wall as soon as possible, but will now have to wait until the eggs hatch.[/font]
[font=Verdana]Christine Ellis and Robert Tomassacci work next door at Holiday Hair Salon and discovered the duck and 11 eggs about two weeks ago. They didn't know what to do about it until they realized construction crews were going to tear down the wall right next to the nest.[/font]
[font=Verdana]"When it comes to something like this, I was born and raised with geese and ducks so when I see something like this, I'd rather save it than anything else," Ellis said.[/font]
[font=Verdana]"For some odd reason these animals know that something's going on and they pick that spot. I don't know why but she just happened to love to be behind that fence," Tomassacci added.[/font]
[font=Verdana]They called the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Officials there said neither they nor the construction crew can move the duck and her nest because the wild mallard is federally controlled.
"All we want is for her to have her babies and move on," Tomassacci said.
The mall manager said he understands the situation and told crews to hold off on demolishing the wall nearest to the nest. He said crews have enough other work to do while waiting for the eggs to hatch. So workers continued their demolition on the other side of the building.[/font]
[font=Verdana]The people at the salon said they have no problem with the old [/font][font=Verdana]Ames[/font][font=Verdana] building coming down for something new. They just want to make sure the mama duck and her ducklings get to the water safely.[/font]
[font=Verdana]"We just want her to hatch her eggs and leave, that's all we want. The last thing we want is for people to think that we don't want Lowes here. We can't wait to get it but we just don't want the duck to get hurt," Ellis said.[/font]
[font=Verdana]Nobody knows exactly when the eggs will hatch. The incubation period for ducklings is 23 to 29 days and the duck has been there for at least two weeks. So we can anticipate the ducklings' arrival in the next few weeks or so.[/font]
[font=Verdana]Construction crews said they hope this situation won't set them back too far. They said they are on a tight schedule to get the land ready for the building process.[/font]
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