OOB plans to have Fourth of July fireworks, as long as piping plovers stay away

OLD ORCHARD BEACH (WGME) – The show will go on this Fourth of July in Old Orchard Beach, with the town's manager saying there will be fireworks this Thursday.

The decision comes after fireworks scheduled for last week were cancelled because of nesting piping plovers in the area, which are federally protected.

The town's manager says the nest was only 400 feet from where the fireworks are launched, so they had to cancel last Thursday.

“The birds were cooperative with us because they hatched that night, so sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning they had eggs hatch, they're now on the move and that frees things up for the Fourth of July,” Town Manager Larry Mead said.

Representatives from the Maine DEP and Audobon Society will be there to monitor the situation and the birds this week.

As long as the birds keep cooperating, they'll continue on with the fireworks each week, but if they move back to the nesting area, they'll have to cancel again.

Eventually the birds will fly away within four to six weeks.