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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City councillors have expressed initial support for killing birds at the dump in a last-ditch effort to curb the feathered population - and reduce the chances of a bird strike at the nearby Yellowknife Airport.

"I don't think we have any alternatives here," said city councillor Kevin Kennedy at Monday's priorities, policies and budget meeting, adding the decision took a lot of "soul-searching."

The bird population at the landfill has been a long-standing problem when it comes to safety at the nearby Yellowknife Airport. In 2007 there were 35 reported bird strikes at the airport. Gulls are generally said to be a much bigger problems than ravens. - NNSL file photo

The city started using non-lethal methods - like cannons - in early April but the birds are already used to it, said Bruce Underhay, manager of the solid waste management facility.

"The seagulls are not deterred at all," he said, adding contrary to what most people think, the bird population is greatest at the back end of the dump, near where the bales are stored, and not the salvaging area.

The cull, which was called a last-resort measure by more than one councillor, comes one month before a scheduled Transport Canada visit to discuss the proposed landfill expansion to the rock quarry north of the current site.

"A big reason we want to push this is because Transport Canada is coming up in June," said Dennis Kefalas, director of Public Works.

He added it's important Transport Canada looks favourably on the landfill, which is said to have only two years of life left, and the proposed expansion.

The current landfill, located 3.5 km from the airport, is grandfathered into zoning regulations. But otherwise, "hazardous areas," like garbage dumps and food waste landfill sites, are to be built within eight km of an airport reference point and any new development requires Transport Canada approval.

Some councillors, including Bob Brooks, believed there were other options besides killing landfill birds and suggested the city wait until the new three-cell system is in place.

The system is expected to help curb the bird population further but the mid-summer start-up date won't be in time for the Transport Canada visit, said Kefalas.

"We want to be seen to have done everything recommended in the report," he said.

The 2008 Beacon Environmental report, commissioned by the city to assess the bird situation at the landfill, recommended numerous deterrent measures, including pyrotechnics and scarecrows, and suggested a population cull if none of those worked.

In other words, systematically killing a percentage of the bird population each week until the birds came to associate the site with danger.

The city has tried all non-lethal recommendations in the report to some success - including ensuring doors to facilities where the garbage is kept are always closed - but says more needs to be done.

If city council votes for administration to proceed with the cull, it will apply for permits allowing it to kill 20 seagulls and two ravens a week, as necessary, until the bird population is considered to be at safe levels.

"We hope as time goes on we get fewer and fewer birds," said Kefalas.

Even so, said city councillor David Wind, the city may want to start looking at alternate locations for a new landfill - just in case Transport Canada doesn't approve the expansion.

"It seems we're putting a lot of eggs in that basket," he said.