BLeaflet | Issues 1 - 7

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Employee Owner Spotlight: PSEG Osprey Initiative

I’d like to Introduce myself for anyone who does not know me. I am Kevin Rodgers and I am a Senior Project Manager with the Energy Group, based in our Melville, New York office (on Long Island). Prior to my work with BL Companies, I was a Project Manager working for PSEG – Long Island with a wide scope of different types of projects to manage. My varied background eventually resulted in me becoming the manager of an initiative that did not seem to have anything to do with the company’s core business – Ospreys (and their nests). This story begins with a now-banned pesticide – Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, better known as “DDT.” For many years DDT was the “go-to” insecticide, and was applied very liberally, even directly, on to peoples bodies. The use of DDT declined by the late 1950’s and early 1960’s and was completed banned in the early 1970’s, but the damage had already been done to the Osprey population. Osprey live entirely off the fish they catch, and the fish in the waters around Long Island were feeding off organisms that had been absorbing the DDT from run off. The chemicals became concentrated as they moved up the food chain, and DDT had a completely unexpected side effect on the Ospreys. The shells of the Osprey’s eggs became far weaker and more brittle. Meanwhile, in order to develop the eggs to the stage of hatching, the Osprey’s needed to nest on top of them in order to make sure they are kept at the right temperature.The result is that the birds would crush their own eggs trying to nest them, and populations died off dramatically. Many years after the banning of DDT, the Osprey population started to return and grow in numbers. Coinciding with the return of the Osprey population, environmental efforts to clean up the waters around Long Island also resulted in a growing population of the fish they use as a food source. This all seems pretty good so far, but the next aspect to recognize is the migratory nature of the birds. They head south for the winter, and travel back up north to nest the next season. Amazingly, they seem to return to almost exactly the same location, after traveling sometimes up to 25,000 miles. They possess a kind of natural GPS ability. Unfortunately for the Osprey, however, the landscape of Long Island changed very dramatically over the 30-40 years of their decreased population. They prefer to make their nests in higher elevations, and trees have been taken down over large sections in order to provide for farming, businesses and housing. The Osprey started to gravitate towards some of the higher structures around – usually utility poles and electrical transmission structures. Among the available structures were poles, created by power companies such as PSEG, that have multiple cross arms and provided a better “natural” place for them to build a nest. However, these “double-arms” are usually where expensive switches and transformers are placed, which has caused a whole host of problems. This is because Ospreys have very large wingspans and any time their wings cross the phases of the energized equipment, they are in danger of being electrocuted. As long as their “footprint” stays around a single phase, they are safe. However, as the nest grows, or the

hatchlings start to grow, or a fresh (wet) fish is brought to the nest, a complete circuit can be formed between differently energized wires and the ground, increasing the risk for electrocution. Also, nests on electrical equipment can catch fire. These fires would often cause power outages for customers; and kill, multiple ospreys – especially young ones. The good news is that PSEG found a few ways to essentially trick the birds -- to keep them safe. The team we developed figured out how to install deterrents (See Figure 2) in key poles, and then create platforms on nearby poles (See Figure 1) that encouraged them to make their nests in locations that were safe for them and not harmful for the power grid.

Figure 1: Safe Platform

Figure 2: Deterrents

By keeping the Osprey off the wires, PSEG was also able to better maintain strong electric service reliability. To add complexity to the entire process, Ospreys are a protected species. So early in the spring workers are not allowed to touch the nests. As a result, we learned to act quickly. As much as possible, during the off season, we would build these platforms and move the nests before the Ospreys get back. Also, we encouraged people to become our eyes and ears in order to identify the early signs of nest creation before the statutory deadline. Through this work, we were able to develop a good working relationship with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and educate them on the importance of protecting the Ospreys, without compromising existing infrastructure. We had a number of instances where a DEC would bring a special container to store eggs while a nest was moved, then put the eggs back – and the Osprey would adopt the new location. During my time at PSEG, we set up video cameras on two nests (in Oyster Bay and Patchogue), which are still working today. You can find the videos here: The Majestic Osprey. While the nests are empty now, as early as late March we can expect to see last year’s Osprey return. We should see eggs laid in late April, and see them hatch in early June. It is amazing to see the hatchlings grow, learn to spread their wings and fly by the end of August -- then learn to feed themselves before heading south on their own in September. While this story focused pretty much on Osprey, we also interacted successfully with eagles, swans and many other of our avian friends to protect them from harmful interactions with energized wires. The key takeaway is that we can figure out ways to keep our infrastructure (which we rely on) from harming these amazing beings we share the Earth with. Have a great day, and in case anyone ever wondered why the Osprey fly south for the winter? Because it’s too far to walk.

This message is brought to you by the Sustainability Committee - Giving Back to the Earth.