Lawsuit launched to stop lead poisoning of up to 10,000 Albatross chicks each year on Hawaii’s Midway Island

The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and affiliated agencies for their failure to clean up toxic, lead-based paint at federal facilities on Midway Atoll that kills up to 10,000 Laysan albatross chicks each year and also threatens the endangered Laysan duck, thereby violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Endangered Species Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

A new study published in the journal Animal Conservation found that lead poisoning is killing up to 10,000 chicks per year on Midway, affecting the long-term survival of the Laysan albatross. Dr. Myra Finkelstein, an environmental toxicologist and the study’s lead author, found that chicks near contaminated structures have lethal levels of lead in their blood. Many poisoned chicks develop nervous system damage called “droopwing” that leaves them unable to lift their wings, which drag on the ground and become susceptible to open sores and fractures, leading to slow and painful death… Read Full Article

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