Dead birds prompt Austin downtown shutdown

[pirate4state]

Bird deaths shut down downtown Austin By JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press Writer
13 minutes ago



AUSTIN, Texas - Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown Austin early Monday after dozens of birds were found dead.

Emergency workers donned yellow hazardous-material suits, and dozens of fire trucks and ambulances were parked nearby, as they began testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have cause the bird deaths.

There were no reports of any humans harmed, but a 10-block stretch of the main north-south route through downtown, several side streets and all buildings in the area were blocked off and expected to remain off-limits until about noon, said police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz.

"There is no credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland or the Austin at this time," said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.

Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services and state authorities are monitoring the situation, he said.

The bird carcasses were found overnight along Congress Avenue between Sixth and Eighth streets.

The street closure Monday morning stretched from the front of the state Capitol to a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake. The Capitol opened on schedule Monday, the day before the legislative session was to begin.

On the East Coast, New York City also had a scare Monday morning when a mysterious gas odor moved across Manhattan. It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the odor, and it dissipated fairly quickly. No injuries or damage to wildlife was immediately reported.

LINK (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070108/ap_on_re_us/austin_shutdown)

[pirate4state]

Gas-like odor worries workers across NYC By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Authorities were investigating the source of a mysterious gas-like odor Monday that wafted over a large part of Manhattan, from Rockefeller Center through Greenwich Village.

The Fire Department began getting calls about the odor around 9 a.m. Monday, said spokesman Tim Hinchey. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey temporarily suspended some of its PATH commuter train service between New Jersey and Manhattan as a precaution.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there was no indication that the air was unsafe to breathe, and he said sensors did not show an unusually high concentration of natural gas.

"It may just be an unpleasant smell," Bloomberg said.

There was a small gas leak in Greenwich Village, but it wouldn't have been enough to account for the pervasive odor, the mayor said.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said there was no indication of terrorism and no credible intelligence to suggest any imminent threat to the city. He said the agency is closely monitoring the situation.

Utility crews from Consolidated Edison were investigating, but they had found no abnormal changes in the gas flow with in its transmission system, said spokesman Chris Olert. "If there was a big leak, we would see a change in the gas flow," he said.

In some areas, office buildings and apartment buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

"The smell was very strong. It was very scary," said Yolanda Van Gemd, an administrator at ASA, a business school near the Empire State Building that was evacuated.

In August, seven people were treated at hospitals after a gaseous smell in the boroughs of Queens and Staten Island.

Natural gas is odorless; it is the chemical that is added to it that gives it the recognizable odor.


LINK (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070108/ap_on_re_us/nyc_gas_odor)

[Maroon87]

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown Austin early Monday after dozens birds were found dead.

Experts were testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have killed off the animals, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said.

There were no reports of any humans harmed, but a 10-block stretch of the main north-south route through downtown, several side streets and all buildings in the area were blocked off and expected to remain off-limits until about noon, Chovanetz said.

The bird carcasses were found overnight along Congress Avenue between Sixth and Eighth streets.

The street closure Monday morning stretched from the front of the state Capitol to a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake. The Capitol opened on schedule Monday, the day before the legislative session was to begin.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Phil C]

OOPS! I didn't notice this thread earlier. Apologia! :(

[pirate4state]

Originally posted by Phil C
OOPS! I didn't notice this thread earlier. Apologia! :( No problem. It is a strange occurance. I'll just delete your thread. ;)

[Phil C]

Originally posted by pirate4state
No problem. It is a strange occurance. I'll just delete your thread. ;)

Thank you. :)

[AggieJohn]

http://www.disobey.com/horror/movie_media/singles/downloads/birds.jpg

[LH Panther Mom]

As of the latest I've heard (rec'd an email 2 minutes ago).......

***At approximately 11:10 a.m., the Downtown Austin Alliance received an update from the Office of Emergency Management regarding the Congress Avenue closure.

There is no definitive time set as to when Congress Avenue and the 100 blocks east and west of adjoining streets will be reopened. Even though earlier news reports stated that the area may be reopened by noon, the closure will remain in place until authorities have determined the are is safe.

The OEM will inform the news media and the DAA of any new developments.***

[AP Panther Fan]

What's the latest on this strange event?

I went home awhile ago and thought I might catch it on the news but it appears today is a big news day...there is a bomb squad investigating something at the Port of Miami and there is much talk about the mysterious smell of gas in New York.

[g$$]

Maybe a Hex Rally is needed in Austin! Just kidding guys.

[ILS1]

Monday, January 08, 2007

Congress Avenue reopened this afternoon after a massive bird death scare caused investigators to shut down the road for several hours this morning.

Investigators said 63 birds were found dead there around 3 a.m., but preliminary tests show there has been no threat to the public, according to health officials.

Congress Avenue between Cesar Chavez and 11th streets were was closed from dawn until just after noon today.

The road closure clogged streets adjacent to Congress Avenue during rush hour and lunch hour with frustrated downtown workers and befuddled drivers. Workers in nearby office buildings along Congress were not allowed into the area until about noon, unless they were able to enter their buildings from a street other than Congress Avenue. Adolfo Valadez, medical director of the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Division, said that the birds included grackles, pigeons and sparrows. He said investigators suspected the birds might have been poisoned.

Based on an analysis of surveillance data, information from area emergency rooms and preliminary testing from the birds, Valadez said officials did not believe there was a threat to public safety.

Investigators said they did not believe that the bird deaths were the result of avian influenza or West Nile virus.

Valadez said biological samples from the birds would be sent to laboratories at Texas A&M University and the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and that final lab results could be available within a week.

Two police officers at the scene of the bird deaths reported feeling ill, said Christian Calisen, assistant director of Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services, but they turned out to be fine. Officials also worried that a homeless man who had been asleep in an alley adjacent to the Driskill Hotel might have been affected by whatever had killed the birds, Calisen said, but he also was unaffected by the incident.

The incident caused a spike in reports of dead bird sightings to city officials, police said. Valadez asked that people call 311 to report dead birds in their neighborhoods or on their front lawns.


Poison suspected

The variety of birds found dead "suggests some kind of poison, either purposeful or accidental," said Valerie Staats, the executive director of the Travis Audubon Society.

"Like some other species like fish, and toads and such, birds are what scientists call an indicator species," she said. "If there's anything unusual, in the air or the water, or on the surfaces where birds congregate, they're going to be the first to let us know about it."

Valadez said that final test results will determine whether the Congress Avenue birds were poisoned. "Such bird die-offs are fairly common," he said at a news conference. "I think we tend to lose sight of that living in an urban environment."

Birds such as pigeons and great-tailed grackles have thrived with urban growth, Staats said.

"They have adapted brilliantly, and they're not impeded by our constant building and development."

It is legal to poison rock doves (a type of pigeon found commonly in the Austin area), grackles and some sparrows, said Jack Ralph, the head of the kills and spills team at the Parks and Wildlife Department.

"But if you target those species for control, you'd better darn well target that species and harm nothing else."

"We have urban bird kills every year," Ralph said. "They're typically associated with a dirty feeder. It's the best intentions of someone trying to feed birds. One sick bird visits the feeder and can leave pathogens on the feeder that are quite lethal to other birds."


Businesses affected

The street closures caused major confusion downtown early in the morning, when commuters outside the Capitol stared at the police tape incredulously as they crept along Brazos or 11th streets.

The closures wreaked havoc on some downtown businesses.

Workers in the Frost Tower at 401 Congress Ave. were told to leave when they arrived this morning.

"Some of our employees did try to get in, but they were told to leave," said Yvonne Tocquigny, the founder of namesake advertising agency Tocquigny.

She told all of her workers to instead work out of her Tarrytown home.

"We've got a guy in my living room doing a client presentation on a conference call," Tocquigny said. "Our business director brought his baby over. And we have a new business presentation happening in my dining room."

Other Congress Avenue offices weren't affected. Introgen Therapeutics Inc. employees working out of 301 Congress Ave. were not affected by the street closure.

McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore, on the west side of Ninth Street and Congress Avenue, was shut down until noon, said partner Pat Lochridge. He said the firm started notifying employees of the shutdown around 7 a.m. with phone calls and e-mails.

That early notice "probably saved a lot of people frustration" by alerting them before they left for work, he said.



Story Link (www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/09/9deadbirds.html)

[g$$]

Originally posted by ILS1
Monday, January 08, 2007


Valadez said biological samples from the birds would be sent to laboratories at Texas A&M University and the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and that final lab results could be available within a week.



Aggies to the rescue! Sounds like somebody poisoned some birds in the state capital.

[Pudlugger]

Originally posted by pirate4state
Gas-like odor worries workers across NYC By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago




NEW YORK - Authorities were investigating the source of a mysterious gas-like odor Monday that wafted over a large part of Manhattan, from Rockefeller Center through Greenwich Village.

The Fire Department began getting calls about the odor around 9 a.m. Monday, said spokesman Tim Hinchey. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey temporarily suspended some of its PATH commuter train service between New Jersey and Manhattan as a precaution.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there was no indication that the air was unsafe to breathe, and he said sensors did not show an unusually high concentration of natural gas.

"It may just be an unpleasant smell," Bloomberg said.

There was a small gas leak in Greenwich Village, but it wouldn't have been enough to account for the pervasive odor, the mayor said.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said there was no indication of terrorism and no credible intelligence to suggest any imminent threat to the city. He said the agency is closely monitoring the situation.

Utility crews from Consolidated Edison were investigating, but they had found no abnormal changes in the gas flow with in its transmission system, said spokesman Chris Olert. "If there was a big leak, we would see a change in the gas flow," he said.

In some areas, office buildings and apartment buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

"The smell was very strong. It was very scary," said Yolanda Van Gemd, an administrator at ASA, a business school near the Empire State Building that was evacuated.

In August, seven people were treated at hospitals after a gaseous smell in the boroughs of Queens and Staten Island.

Natural gas is odorless; it is the chemical that is added to it that gives it the recognizable odor.


LINK (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070108/ap_on_re_us/nyc_gas_odor)

Was Hillary sited in the area?

[STANG RED]

Dang Taco Cabana bean burritos!:mad:
When I rolled my window down last night to let the stench escape after passing a little gas, I had no idea it would have such a devestating effect on the wildlife.:eek:
Sorry.

[piratebg]

Sounds like a pretty scary day in Austin. I haven't watched the news today. I have lots of family up there. Glad to see there was no real threat.