State authorities have cited an worker with the town’s Department of Water Management over the deaths of dozens of protected birds at a water filtration plant in South Shore.
Elmer Payton, an engineer on the Eugene Sawyer Water Purification Plant close to Rainbow Beach, was cited with killing a non-game migratory hen and illegal destruction of nests and eggs of a non-game migratory hen in reference to the June 27 incident, in line with Rachel Torbert, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Torbert stated the company started investigating when a co-worker on the plant reported that Payton had destroyed nests and killed practically 40 cliff swallows and barn swallows. Payton wasn’t arrested in reference to the citations, in line with Torbert, who stated they have been thought of a “petty offense.”
The metropolis employee who reported the incident to officers stated he he didn’t think about the killing of the birds to be “petty.”
“Petty offense? Since when is breaking federal statutes petty? Since when is the murder of defenseless animals petty?” the supply stated.
Megan Vidis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Water Management, stated the allegations are being taken “very seriously.”
“Discipline hearings are underway per the collective bargaining agreement with Mr. Payton’s union,” Vidis stated.
After discovering the lifeless birds, the supply additionally knowledgeable the Chicago Sun-Times and supplied images of their our bodies, saying it appeared that birds’ nests had been dislodged and smashed into the pavement.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he added. “That just made me sick. They had families; babies and eggs.”
The birds that have been killed are protected below the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which makes it unlawful to kill, possess, import, export, transport, promote, buy or barter protected species with out a allow.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service stated the company continues to research the incident, which means Payton might nonetheless face a federal misdemeanor cost that carries a most jail sentence of six months and fines of as much as $15,000.
Payton’s first courtroom date associated to the citations was set for Oct. 1, Tolbert stated.
He couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.