| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 7:42 pm |
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Local News 
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Drop burn ban proposal, clean air agency advised SEATTLE -- A proposal to ban outdoor burning in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties could be shelved after a regional air agency received hundreds of complaints from rural homeowners.The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency staff on Wednesday sent a letter recommending that its board of directors drop the proposed ban on backyard fires. The staff urged the board to implement a far less controversial ban on debris burning to clear land for development. Thinking enough "reasonable alternatives" to burning existed, agency staff proposed the ban last year to help clear the air. Hundreds of angry letters and e-mails from rural residents made the staff realize that options such as wood chippers, curbside pickup and trucking of branches to dump sites are not reasonable in many places, said Jim Nolan, director of compliance for the Seattle-based agency. "We got a lot of really good comments that were helpful," he said. "Some of the stuff they said really rang true to us. A curbside program with a 96-gallon container twice a month is absolutely inadequate to handle the amount of material that comes down in the winter." Opponents viewed the proposal as an assault on their rural lifestyle that would do little, if anything, to help the environment. Oso tree farmer Dick Sass was relieved that the agency staff is recommending against banning homeowners from burning debris in their yards. "As a property owner and someone who has a lot of trees and generates a lot of wood debris every year, I wouldn't have any other way of getting rid of it," he said. "I could take it out and pile it all on a country road, I guess, but I don't think the county would like that." The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency may recommend a more focused residential burn ban in October, Nolan said. He wants to study the issue further and target densely populated unincorporated areas where alteratives to burning are more prevalent. Paul Harshman of Marysville is "really disappointed" with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's recommendation to drop the residential burn ban proposal. In addition to damaging regional air quality, he said, smoke from neighboring yard fires stinks up his home and gives him headaches. "As soon as you start to breathe the smoke, you start to get a headache," said Harshman, who used to have neighbors on Camano Island who burned. "Your heart rate increases and your blood pressure increases almost instantly when you smell smoke." The agency's staff is asking the board of directors to vote on the proposal following a public hearing at 9:15 a.m. Feb. 28 at the Seattle Public Library, 1000 Fourth Ave. The proposal to ban developers from using fires to clear lots would begin July 1. The ban on backyard fires, if approved, would be implemented July 1, 2010. The ban would not apply to agricultural burning or wood-burning fireplaces. For more information, go to www.pscleanair.org. |
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(11) - A tidy lawn could be law in Lynnwood (10)
- State Senate votes to toss I-960's tax-raising hurdle (7)
- Lynnwood sets height limit on grass: 8 inches (6)
- Everett police officers cleared in 2008 shooting death (5)
- 1949 travel aid shows how few places blacks were welcome in Washington (4)
- I-5 bridge joint may give you a jolt, but it isn't damaged (4)
- Everett rethinks boutique wineries (4)
- County archive software paid for but waiting for set-up (3)
- A new bowling alley for Monroe? (3)
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- Lynnwood’s annexation plans OK’d
- Arlington's Cascade Valley Hospital celebrates expansion, national award and 100 years of service
- Business Licences Feb. 2010
- Technology tips for launching your own business
- Business Events Feb. 2010
- Tech Talk: No excuse today for going without a Web site
- State already raising fees and rates that restrict business growth
- Some legislators again targeting people’s initiative petition rights
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