Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Redevelopment of old Lynnwood High School 'solid,' school district says 11/29/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, November 29, 2008 Burn ban orders will have new teeth Wood-burning fireplaces will become a focus; fines will be $1,000. By Bill Sheets, Herald Writer The next time a ban on wintertime wood burning is declared in the Puget Sound region, it could be a ban in the truest sense of the word. Until this year, winter burn bans have allowed for some exceptions: fires in newer, cleaner burning wood- or pellet stoves. Now, even use of those stoves will be prohibited. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency sent out a reminder of the new law this week, with days of clear, cold, stagnant air -- the type that traps air pollution near the ground -- predicted for the weekend. Earlier this year, the state Legislature lowered the air-quality trigger for calling a burn ban to align with a federal standard established in 2006, according to the Clean Air Agency. Now bans will be divided into two stages: Stage 1 bans will apply only to fires currently covered under wintertime burn bans. These include any type of outdoor burning along with fires in wood-burning fireplaces and pre-1995 wood stoves not certified to be cleaner burning. Stage 2 bans will apply also to the newer, cleaner-burning devices. The lone remaining exceptions are for fuels not made from wood: natural gas and propane stoves or inserts, along with common household heating sources such as furnaces, heat pumps and baseboard units. Violations cost $1,000 each. An inspector for the Clean Air Agency has to see smoke coming out of the chimney to write a ticket, either by happening upon it or by responding to a complaint. As with all wintertime burn bans, anyone who can show that their wood stove is their sole source of heat won't have to pay the fine. They can still be issued a ticket up front, though, and will have to file an appeal with the Clean Air Agency. In the past, bans have been based on weather forecasts, and that will still be the case with stage 1 bans, said Jim Nolan, a compliance officer for the Clean Air Agency. Stagnant, smoke-filled cooler air can be trapped by warmer air above it, which keeps pollutants near the ground. Stage 2 bans will be declared if the air quality starts pushing the federal health standard, Nolan said. The agency, which covers King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties, usually calls a ban for the whole region but has the authority to specify by county if conditions warrant, a relatively rare occurrence, Nolan said. The Clean Air Agency called two regional burn bans last winter, one from Dec. 9 through 11 and one from Jan. 23 through 26. Summer burn bans are usually declared by fire departments for safety reasons, officials with the Clean Air Agency said. Despite a distinctive aroma that some find pleasant and comforting, wood smoke is dangerous to breathe, experts say. Tiny particles found in wood smoke -- so small that as many as 40 of them can fit across the diameter of a human hair -- can cause or worsen potentially fatal diseases of the heart and lungs, according to the Clean Air Agency. "When the air does get contaminated, when the pollution load is heavy, we will see more pulmonary disease and heart disease," said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, director and health officer for the Snohomish Health District. "It is prudent to keep our air as clean as we possibly can." Three years ago, the Clean Air Agency began offering rebates for homeowners in some communities to upgrade from older stoves to the newer, cleaner burning kind. The rebates have been offered in several cities in the Puget Sound region, including Marysville and Darrington, where wood-smoke pollution was measured to be particularly high. This year the discounts are also offered in Everett. Under the program, up to $750 is taken off the cost of a clean-burning wood stove and up to $1,500 off the cost of a pellet, propane or gas stove, or more efficient furnace or heat pump. Low-income discounts are available. Discounts from other agencies, such as the Snohomish County PUD and Puget Sound Energy, for newer, more efficient appliances can be collected on top of the Clean Air Agency rebate for the same item, said Amy Warren, a spokeswoman for the Clean Air Agency. Nearly 200 homeowners have taken advantage of the program in the three cities, with funding available for 24 more discounts in Marysville, 21 more in Everett and 18 in Darrington, Warren said. Susie Green, 58, of Marysville, would escape the ban because she and her husband recently upgraded to a propane fireplace insert. They took advantage of a rebate program from the Clean Air Agency and received $1,500 off the cost of the insert, bringing it down to $2,200 from $3,700. They'd been thinking of upgrading anyway, Green said. The propane insert costs about the same as electric baseboard heat but keeps them much warmer, she said. "We thought that was marvelous and too good an opportunity to pass up," Green said. Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out It is only a minor change. Article has some factual problems The changes in the law are simply a lowering of the burn ban thresholds. This WILL mean more burn bans but does not mean that certified wood burning will be significantly impacted in our region. "Until this year, winter burn bans have allowed for some exceptions: fires in newer, cleaner burning wood- or pellet stoves. Now, even use of those stoves will be prohibited." This statement is very misleading. It emphisizes (wrongly) that that two stage burn bans are something new. We have been dealing with 2 stage burn bans since the beggining. And yes certified stoves were included in the 2nd stage burn ban. However the number of days in the past 10 years where there has been a stage 2 burn ban has been almost non existent. We will see some additional stage 2 burn bans and alot more stage 1 bans and thats fine, when they are needed they are needed. They do have some additional authority to fine you if you are burning during a burn ban. The idea here is that if there is a burn ban you can be fined. If you prove that your stove is certified or your only source of heat than you are off the hook. They only need to see smoke coming out of your chimney to call fine you. I dont know if they are really prepared to deal with the ramifications of this "power". We shall see. I think they have a can of worms that they have just opened up and they might find them to be worms that are not so tasty. Be carefull what you ask for... There are many other little problems with this article as well but my fingers would get tired going through them all. Patrick Martin | Dec 5, 2008 5:05 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal If you don't like it, then do something about it! Ok, let me get this straight. From what I hear most of you saying, these laws are made by “slimy bureaucrat(s)” who are just trying to “create a nation of lawbreakers” because there is “no way to rule innocent men.” To get around them, we should “burn at night” or “burn when it is foggy” so “the woodstove police cannot see it.” Otherwise, we are going “to go cold while the politicians and their rich buddies are warm.” Because we are comparing ourselves to a Robin Hood movie “when the rich dominated the poor and took everything.” So in response, we think it’s “time for a new revolution?” If we don’t, we’ll get our “wood stoves confiscated” by a “pure Socialistic State.” When really, we should tell them that “if you don’t like the smoke, move!” Then we should get our neighbors together and “stand up Patriots and complain about these socialistic policies to the so called Legislators.” I guess that leaves me with a few questions... Are you denying that we’re screwing up our planet and that it’s our responsibility to look out for our own air quality? Are you forgetting that WE, THE PEOPLE, are the ones who voted in our legislators? Well, at least those of us that bothered to register and then actually vote did. Have you really been off your meds so long that you honestly think that the world is a conspiracy against you and that the nation is trying to come up with laws just to screw with you? Did you not read the part where it said that if you NEED to burn wood to stay warm like the “politicians and their rich buddies” then you CAN? And you really think that this is cause for a “new revolution?” Let me guess, you’ve been waiting around your whole life to have a chance to say that. Am I right? These laws are not made to make your life awful. They aren’t made so that rich people can stay warm while poor people freeze to death. They’re made to keep people safe. They’re made to keep people healthy. They’re made to keep our air, our environment, and our planet clean so that not only will we have a place to live, but so will our children, and their children, and their children, and so on. If you want a revolution, great! If you want to stand up, great! If you want to complain to your legislators, great! That’s why we live in this country. Go talk to your legislators if you don’t like something. Get out there and vote on election day! Run for office yourself so that someone else can call YOU a slimy bureaucrat! Get together with your friends, neighbors, and shooting partners and pass around a petition to get a new law enacted. But please, don’t just sit around in front of your computers complaining about what other people are doing TO YOU. It’s just plain irritating! Samantha Bond | Nov 29, 2008 3:58 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Nothing has really changed... Keep in mind, per the Dpt of Ecology website... "Burn bans do not apply to homes with no other source of adequate heat." The article above also mentions this. REF: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/outdoor_woodsmoke/wood_smoke_page.htm ---about 2/3rds of the page down If you use your woodstove as "entertainment" then yeah, it's illegal (during a ban). If you are using it because your house does not have adequate heat then you have every right to continue using it. Even if your current stove does not meet emission regulations, you can continue to use it, for the life of where you have it in your home. ONLY NEWLY INSTALLED stoves must meet the 2006 regulations. Also, outdoor burning is still allowed, as long as it is a "campfire". A source of food used on such a fire is considered a campfire. Keep that pound of hamburger close-by in case your local police show up. As for fines, i read they can be as high as $10,000 (Herald still quotes 1,000) ---Does anyone know of anyone who has been fined? cme everett | Nov 29, 2008 2:39 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Burn Ban - What Next? Here's how the slimy bureaucrat Dr. Floyd Ferris put it in Rand's Atlas Shrugged: "Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of lawbreakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." Bruce Miller | Nov 29, 2008 2:12 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Burn at night And burn when it is foggy. Burn when the woodstove police cannot see it. I will be damned if I am going to go cold while the politicians and their rich buddies are warm. One jet makes more pollotion than 10,000 wood stoves. But thats OK, because the politicians pockets are lined by the airlines. Seems to me the Everett politicians are far more concerns with paybacks for their donations then they are my ability to stay warm. If we all burn they cannot stop any of us! Seriously! There was a time like this in the mid-1700s...when the rich dominated the poor and took everything. Maybe it is getting close to time for a new revolution? Henry Stephanson | Nov 29, 2008 12:36 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal More grief for the disadvantaged Now that we are in the midst of an economic disaster, and people are being laid off to the point where wood may be the only heating fuel they can afford, even if they have a furnace that runs on oil, propane, or electricity, we are going to have the wood fire police handing out $1000 fines? What does government fail to understand about this being a time when "business as usual" is actually going to hurt a lot of families? This only adds insult to injury. Norman MacLeod | Nov 29, 2008 11:42 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal burn ban Oh boy,now along with our guns, we can get ready to have our wood stoves confiscated!!! I wonder how bad one of those DARNED BIG JETS,robs the atmosphere of oxygen ? We wouldn't dare ***** about one of those now would we? GEORGE POPPS | Nov 29, 2008 9:15 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Burn Ban Fine We have finally arrived at a pure Socialistic State here in Washington! Why is it that a few whiners can get there way on something like heating your own home with wood. If you don't like the smoke, move! It's time to stand up Patriots and complain about these socialistic policies to the so called Legislators. Don Mulder | Nov 29, 2008 5:52 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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