Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (July 22/02) - An unknown number of swallows' nests and chicks were recently destroyed during renovations to the Fort Smith water tower.

And the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development is looking into the matter to see if it violated the federal Migratory Bird Act.

"We are investigating it," said Berny Bergman, the enforcement-compliance specialist with RWED's Fort Smith Region.

Under the act's regulations, no person can "disturb, destroy or take" a nest or egg of a migratory bird, except with a permit from the federal minister of the environment.

Swallows are a migratory bird, and protected by the act.

It is difficult to say how many swallows' nests had been attached to the bottom of the water tank, Bergman said, explaining they are often built on top of each other. "It's a little like a super condominium."

They were removed between July 6 and 8 by scraping and high-pressure water.

On average, each nest contains three to four chicks.

Ib Kristensen, who operates a bookstore in the shadow of the water tower, said chicks were already born when the nests were removed, and probably hundreds were killed.

"I was saddened to see that," he said. "To me, it was unnecessary to do it when they were nesting."

Using his binoculars to scan the water tank, Kristensen estimated there had been at least 200 nests on the structure, based on the remains of the nests that can be seen.

Bergman said his understanding of the Migratory Bird Act is that it could allow removal of nests before or after the nesting period, either in early spring or late fall.

The investigation will not take long, he said last week, adding it is possible charges will be laid.

The renovations to the water tower are being done by Danger Sandblasting and Painting Ltd. of Saskatchewan, under a $70,000 contract with the Town of Fort Smith.

Attempts to contact a company spokesperson were unsuccessful.

However, Mayor Peter Martselos noted that in the past the territorial government has removed swallow nests from the town's schools.

"I never was aware we were doing anything wrong," he said, adding he did not know the nests were being removed until afterwards.

The mayor explained it is hard to get a contractor to do repairs to a water tower, pointing out such specialists are in high demand and only have a specific period of time to do the work.

"Whenever you get them, you have to do the work," he said.

Martselos added the town's prime concern is the safety of the water supply.

"If we did something wrong, we accept responsibility for our actions."