While a report from a national environmental action group found that pollution of New York's beachers has increased, one local state park is taking a proactive approach to ensure its waters remain open this summer.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council's annual beach water quality report, New York ranked eighth worst in the nation for the percent of days that exceeded health standards, increasing to 11 percent in 2007 from 9 percent in 2006. Last year, state beaches closed or had advisory days 1,547 times.

The primary source of the decreased water quality, the report states, is from storm water runoff and sewage contamination.

While Fair Haven Beach State Park closed just once in all of 2007, the large population of Canada geese flocking to the park is putting beachgoers - and Lake Ontario's water quality - at risk. Park employees are trying to relocate the geese, but not everyone is happy with the way it's being done.

“There's a concern that they are having an impact on our water quality at our beaches,” said Edwina Belding, who works at the Environmental Management Bureau within the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. “That's because of their droppings. Chloroform bacteria in water pollen can lead to water quality not passing acceptable standards and lead to having to potentially close the beach for public use.”

Water quality is not the only venue where geese dropping pose risks. Waste on sand where people sit and children play can also be hazardous.

“We have a goal we're striving to meet to not have any Canada geese on any of our beach areas,” she said.

To achieve that goal, Belding coordinates Canada geese nuisance activities to safely and humanely move geese to other locations from various beaches across the state, Fair Haven among them.

Myriad methods are employed to move geese away from public beaches, she said. Egg treatment keeps goose eggs from hatching, which overall reduces the geese population and keeps adult geese free to move elsewhere for the summer.

Hazing techniques are also used with geese herded by motorized vehicles, remote control boats and border collies, she said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the American Humane Society endorse these measures as being humane, Belding added.

But one individual didn't think so, and complained to PETA that employees at the Fair Haven park were allegedly being overly aggressive in their treatment of the animals.

The individual #- whose identity was not released #- claimed that employees were terrorizing geese and goslings by chasing them in golf carts at high speeds, one of which was run over and injured.

Park Manager Joe Keeler denies that employees at any point deviated from the goose nuisance activities program, and said further that the complaint came from one individual who violated park policy by feeding the geese.

“It's all been investigated through the state Department of Environmental

Conservation and park police,” he said. “Everything that's been stated has been unfounded.”

Keeler said everything the park has and continues to do is “health and safety related” and meets the standards set by the United States Department of Agriculture and Environmental Management Bureau.

“The feces contaminate our water, they defecate all over our lawns and picnic areas,” he said. “Kids walk in it, so we have to reduce the number of geese that live here through hazing techniques. We are just trying to convince them to go live in a new place.”

So far the program has been a success, he said, with geese population diminishing from 300 to 50 or less.

As per the individual's complaint, Keeler said the injured goose did not sustain a foot injury from a collision with a golf cart. The goose had been limping at the park weeks prior to the alleged incident, and a wildlife rehabilitator diagnosed the problem as tendonitis.

This explanation is acceptable to PETA, which initially issued an action alert on the subject.

“At this point #* we haven't been there and we're not there now #* we just have to take the word of the parks department that they are (hazing geese) in a humane fashion,” Cruelty Caseworker Peter Wood said, “and that animals are and never were run down. We hope they are keeping to their word.

“We appreciate that they are trying to do this in a humane way #* they could just kill them,” he said. “We just want to make sure this is not being done in an overly aggressive way.”

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net