City employee cited over deaths of protected migratory birds

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