Commission authorizes six‑month USDA contract to curb black vulture activity at landfill

The Loudoun County Solid Waste Disposal Commission on an oral vote authorized county staff to sign a six‑month cooperative service agreement with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services to address a large population of black vultures using the county landfill and nearby properties.

Commissioners approved the motion after a presentation from the USDA representative and public comment from adjacent property owners. The contract as presented calls for a six‑month program with $25,000 in funding and a field plan that begins with an intensive three‑week (15‑day) direct control period followed by routine monitoring and follow‑up visits over the remainder of the term.

Why it matters: Commission members and neighbors said vultures are damaging personal property and creating a public‑nuisance problem. The commission’s action authorizes county staff to finalize an agreement that will bring federal wildlife specialists onto county and, if neighboring landowners consent, private property to reduce the vulture population and monitor future activity.

USDA presentation and plan Justin Hamby, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, told the commission his office works under cooperative service agreements and that more restrictive constraints on control methods make management harder and more expensive. He described the landfill site as a likely “pit stop” for birds moving along the river system between Fort Loudoun Dam and Watts Bar and said he observed large groups of black vultures on transmission towers and on the landfill during a recent site visit. Hamby said black vultures can damage vehicles, roofs and other property and that they have different behavior and impacts than turkey vultures.

Hamby summarized the proposed response: an initial 15 days of “straight intensive direct control” on site, followed by an average of two site visits per week during the remaining five months. He described that phase as about 60 site visits and roughly 375 field hours over six months. He said Wildlife Services holds a depredation permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that covers removal of black vultures in Tennessee and Kentucky and that his program’s permit allocation is measured across the combined area. Hamby also said USDA Wildlife Services uses both lethal control and nonlethal harassment as appropriate and that harassment alone is unlikely to solve the problem where an established roost exists.

On how work on private property would be handled, Hamby said adjacent landowners would be asked to sign a permission form before Wildlife Services would operate on their private property; county funding would support the program on those properties if neighbors consent.

Commission action and next steps A commission member moved that the commission obtain a contract and authorize Adam (county staff) to sign the agreement after review by the commission attorney, Elizabeth Murphy. A second was recorded; the commission approved the motion by voice vote with no recorded opposing votes.

After the vote, the commission chair instructed staff to connect Hamby with neighbors willing to sign permissions and to coordinate scheduling and access with Republic (the landfill operator). The commission directed Adam to present the agreement to the commission attorney for review and to return the signed contract after that legal review.

What the plan does and does not do Discussion in the meeting made clear the plan would include lethal removals carried out under the federal depredation permit and professional training and that USDA staff are annually trained on firearm safety. Hamby said the depredation permit authorizes removal at the program level (covering Tennessee and Kentucky) and that the annual allocation is measured across that program. Hamby offered examples of prior work in the region where trapping and removal substantially reduced a local vulture population but cautioned that birds can return over time and that follow‑up monitoring is necessary.

Public and staff follow‑up Neighbors asked for reports and agreed to coordinate with commission staff about signing permission forms; the commission asked staff to arrange a mid‑term check‑in (suggested for mid‑September) to report progress to the board. The commission also asked that the contract packet include a clear scope, start date and termination date; Hamby said the agreement would begin when signed and that the initial intensive control period would follow immediately.

Speakers - Justin Hamby — Wildlife Services representative, U.S. Department of Agriculture; government - Adam — county staff member (identified in the meeting as county staff); government - Elizabeth Murphy — commission attorney; government/legal - Bonnie — resident/neighbor; citizen - Chair (Steve) — chair, Loudoun County Solid Waste Disposal Commission; government - Commission member (mover) — unidentified board member who moved the motion; government - Commission member (seconder) — unidentified board member who seconded the motion; government

Authorities - type: "other", name: "Depredation permit (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)", citation: "Program permit covering Tennessee and Kentucky (per meeting)", referenced_by: ["Justin Hamby"]

Actions - kind: "other", identifiers: {}, motion: "Authorize county staff to execute a cooperative service agreement with U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services for vulture control, subject to attorney review", mover: "Commission member (unnamed)", second: "Commission member (unnamed)", vote_record: [], tally: {}, legal_threshold: {"met":true,"notes":"Approved by voice vote; no roll call recorded"}, outcome: "approved", notes: "Agreement described as six months, $25,000, with initial 15 days of intensive control followed by monitoring; county staff to obtain attorney review before signature."

Discussion vs. decision - Discussion points: Hamby’s assessment of black vulture behavior, lethal control vs. harassment effectiveness, birds’ use of landfill as pit stop, neighbor property impacts, legal permit coverage, and program cost and schedule. - Directions: Staff (Adam) to deliver the contract to the commission attorney (Elizabeth Murphy) for review; staff to coordinate neighbor permissions and scheduling with Republic Services and provide a midterm update to the commission. - Decisions: Commission approved the motion to proceed with the six‑month cooperative agreement and authorized staff to sign following attorney review.

Clarifying details - Program cost: $25,000 total for six months (source: Justin Hamby and staff discussion). - Schedule: initial three‑week (15‑day) intensive direct control phase; remainder of six months includes ~21 weeks with an average of two site visits per week (source: Justin Hamby). - Estimated field work: approximately 60 site visits and ~375 on‑site hours over six months (source: Justin Hamby). - Bird counts observed on site: Hamby estimated “a little over a 100” on a tower and roughly “200+” on the site during a visit; Hamby gave prior examples of larger populations at other facilities and said a program permit can authorize removals in the thousands across the combined program area (source: Justin Hamby).

Proper names - {"name":"U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services","type":"agency"} - {"name":"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service","type":"agency"} - {"name":"Republic Services","type":"business"} - {"name":"Fort Loudoun Dam","type":"location"} - {"name":"Watts Bar","type":"location"}

Community relevance - geographies: ["county landfill","adjacent residential properties","Fort Loudoun Dam","Watts Bar"] - funding_sources: ["county operating funds (cooperative agreement)"] - impact_groups: ["adjacent homeowners","landfill equipment operators","boat ramp users"]

Meeting context - engagement_level: {"speakers_count":7,"duration_minutes":null,"items_count":1} - implementation_risk: "medium" - history: [{"date":"not specified","note":"Vulture presence and complaints discussed in public comments; no prior contract in place."}]

searchable_tags:["vultures","USDA","wildlife control","landfill","Humane depredation permit","Republic Services","Fort Loudoun"],

provenance:{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"932.825","local_start":0,"local_end":783,"evidence_excerpt":"Alright. Like you said, my name is Justin Hamby. I'm with United States Department of Agriculture and Wildlife Services. Just to give you a little background on what my agency does because I got a feeling that most of you all have never heard of us before at all. But Wildlife Services is underneath the umbrella of the United States Department of Agriculture...","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"3950.6802","local_start":0,"local_end":86,"evidence_excerpt":"Let's have a vote. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. I want you to email me. I'm gonna connect you with Bonnie. Okay. Your job, Bonnie, is to talk to your neighbors and see who wants to have USDA on the property. Can you handle that?","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]} ,