DEC weighs ban on burn barrels Thursday, January 24, 2008 By Kathy Parker (Contact) Gazette Reporter
ALBANY — The state Department of Environmental Conservation is considering new regulations that would completely ban the use of trash-burning barrels in New York.
The stricter regulations on outdoor burning are in the first stages of consideration by the department, according to spokeswoman Lori O’Connell.
“The proposals have not even been formally announced yet,” she said.
But the idea of tougher bans on burning has been floated to local officials, and an article on what’s under consideration appeared in a New York State Association of Towns newsletter last month.
According to O’Connell, the burning of paper, paper products, cartons, tree trimmings, leaves, and lawn and garden debris in an open fire would be prohibited.
Currently, open burning is prohibited in all incorporated cities and in towns with a population of 20,000 or more.
“All burn barrels would be banned under the proposal no matter what the size of the town,” O’Connell said. “Cooking and campfires under 3 feet wide would be allowed.”
Unless prohibited by local law, property owners in towns with a population of fewer than 20,000 can now burn paper and wood but not household garbage.
Milton Building Inspector Wayne Howe said his department is in charge of enforcing the local law on burning. He said many residents in the rural area of town have burn barrels.
“I used to have a burn barrel myself, but I’ve since started to recycle everything,” he said.
The Milton Town Board passed a local law in 2003 that allowed burning in a container if it had a screen cover to keep hot ashes from escaping.
“There are quite a few of them in the more rural areas of town,” Howe said. “They can be used as long as they don’t have a negative impact on neighbors. If we get a complaint, we will require the fire to be extinguished.”
In Johnstown, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Heberer said his department is reviewing the proposed regulation changes.
“It looks like it could open up the use of chimineas and the like, which are now completely prohibited in the city,” Heberer said, without elaborating.
He said if a Johnstown resident lights an outdoor fire for any use other than cooking, the fire department can be called to demand the flames be put out.
“If a neighbor complains, we can say, ‘You put it out, or we’ll do it for you,’ ” Heberer said.
Over the past decade, many towns with populations under 20,000 have passed restrictions on burning. In 1998, Wilton adopted a law after town officials received numerous phone complaints about the smoke from the outdoor burning of leaves and other debris.
The Wilton law allows people with lots of two acres or more to continue to burn leaves in their yards, but if DEC enacts the new regulations, the town law will be overruled.
O’Connell said that as a regulation, the rule can be enacted and enforced by DEC without legislative approval.
The proposed revision begins with a prohibition on the burning of any material in an open fire and then lists exceptions.
The exceptions are small fires for cooking or campfires, firefighting training, smudge pots to prevent frost damage to crops, on-site agricultural waste burning, and ceremonial bonfires not otherwise prohibited by law.
DEC officials have begun soliciting comments from local government and firefighting officials from around the state. The date commencing an official public comment phase has yet to be determined, O’Connell said.
The Wilton law allows people with lots of two acres or more to continue to burn leaves in their yards, but if DEC enacts the new regulations, the town law will be overruled.
Why would you burn leaves---make compost,it's all natural
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
'Burn barrels' may go up in smoke State considers policy against burning garbage but some lawmakers from rural towns oppose idea
By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer First published: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
ALBANY -- The old rusty "burn barrel," a familiar sight outside many country homes and farms, may become a thing of the past.
State environmental officials are weighing a statewide ban on open burning of household waste. Current rules exempt the 850 towns in the state with fewer than 20,000 people. The measure being reviewed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer's administration is attracting opposition. Two Rensselaer County Republican lawmakers call the proposal "overreaching" and "unnecessary." But according to the Department of Environmental Conservation, burn barrels can allow partially combusted pollutants such as heavy metals, furans, dioxins and volatile organic compounds to escape, all of which can cause illness in people through prolonged exposure. "The purpose of these rules would be to improve air quality," said DEC spokeswoman Lori Connell. She said if the revised rules are proposed, a public comment period will be opened. Proposed rules would exempt small campfires and cooking fires, ceremonial fires, certain types of agricultural waste burning, petroleum-fueled smudge pots, fire-training exercises, disposal of hazardous materials by police, and prescribed burns like those for forest protection. Rensselaer County Legislator Lester Goodermote, who represents parts of the rural towns of Hoosick, Berlin, Grafton, Stephentown and Petersburgh, said in a press statement that a ban would "be more trouble than it is worth." He was joined by Legislator Stan Brownell, who also represents those towns. Goodermote said the amount of outdoor burning is minimal, and if banned, would result in more items being taken to dumps. However, the DEC said that garbage burned in an open barrel gives off 17 times more dioxins and 40 times more ash than a permitted incinerator. Burn barrel temperatures rarely exceed 500 degrees Fahrenheit, so combustion is incomplete. Permitted incinerators operate at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and use efficient filters to reduce harmful emissions. A 1997 study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that 40 households burning garbage can produce as many dioxin emissions as a 200-ton-per-day municipal incinerator. Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.
There has always been a some sort of ban on burning. And the loophole is.....just put a grate over your fire and keep hotdogs and rolls close by. Simple!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Burning barrel is quality of life issue, not a rite
First published: Thursday, March 6, 2008
Columnist Fred LeBrun writes that he loves his burning barrel (Feb. 22). Well, we love our clean air. Yes, it's legal in New York state to burn plain paper and cardboard, which can be recycled. He agrees in his article that it is badly abused; so why not stop all the burning?
The state Department of Environmental Conservation states that controlling what people burn is impossible. My experience is that people burn all manner of junk that sends dioxins, chemicals and other poisons into the air that we breathe. Come on, Fred, burning barrels are a quality of life issue and should not be a "rural ritual." Fred, do your homework and support the new rules that DEC is proposing. CANDI DUTCHER Schodack
CAPITOL Trash burning ban draws fire Farm Bureau fights DEC move BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter
While environmentalists are supporting the state’s proposed ban on household trash burning, the New York Farm Bureau is opposed and legislators from agricultural areas are raising objections. Earlier this month, the Department of Environmental Conservation announced the proposed ban, saying: “Once considered harmless, open burning has been found to release more dangerous chemicals into the air than thought generations ago,” including dioxin. The DEC proposal would extend to rural areas a ban on open burning of residential wastes that has been in effect in cities, villages and towns with populations of 20,000 or more since 1972. The ban would exempt burning of agricultural wastes, not including plastic. Nevertheless, Farm Bureau spokesman Peter Gregg said it would create a hardship for farms located a long way from a landfi ll or transfer station, especially now with gas prices at record highs. Gregg noted that the state budget passed in April included $350,000 in the environmental protection fund for a pilot program involving the state picking up and disposing of farmers’ nonrecyclable waste. DEC spokesman Yancey Roy said, “The idea is not only about picking up the material, but also possibly finding a market or alternative use for it. This program is in its beginning stages.” Gregg said the program should be given time to get off the ground, and if successful, should be expanded. Meanwhile, he said, the DEC should not outlaw burning. Roger Downs, a Sierra Club lobbyist, said farmers should accept tougher regulations because burning could result in the contamination of the food supply. Open-pit burning, he said, may put more dioxin in the air than anything else in New York, and dioxin could get into milk. John Sheehan of the Adirondack Council also supported the ban, saying burning was a threat to clean water as well as the air. People can pollute their own wells, he said, as contamination seeps down from a burn barrel into the water table. But the leaders of both the Senate and Assembly agriculture committees were dubious. Assemblyman William Magee, D-Nelson, said it might be better for the DEC to have sought the changes through legislation, rather than by imposing its own regulations. He also expressed concern that because home owners will not get the exemptions the DEC is proposing for farmers, they will no longer be allowed to burn leaves. Magee said he is studying the matter. Stronger opposition may be expected from the Senate, where the chairwoman of the Agriculture Committee, Catharine Young, R-Olean, supported the Farm Bureau’s position and brought up other concerns. She said the bill could create other environmental problems, such as littering, and questioned how the DEC could enforce things like restrictions on the size of campfires. Young said she has expressed her concerns to the DEC as part of the public comment process in the regulatory procedure. She declined to comment on whether she might introduce legislation to block the regulations, saying she would wait to see the DEC’s fi nal proposal. That makes legislation unlikely this legislative session, which is due to end on June 23. Another Republican senator, James Seward, R-Milford, whose district includes Schoharie County, said the matter is best left to local governments, although, he said, “I wouldn’t want to live next to a burn barrel.” Magee also expressed a preference for leaving it to local governments. However, environmental organizations often get their way in the Assembly, and they support the burn ban. The DEC has scheduled public hearings around the state from June 23 to July 2. In Albany, hearings will be held at the DEC’s central office, 625 Broadway, from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 5 to 8 p.m. June 25. Roy said the regulations would likely not be adopted until near the end of this year.
We all share the air we breathe, and we all have to work together to keep it clean. To that end, New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation is taking a bold step by proposing strict regulations that ban most forms of open burning. Currently, burning is allowed in municipalities of 20,000 people or fewer. The time to extend the ban to all communities has come. Open burning releases dangerous emissions into the air, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, a toxic mix that creates ground-level ozone or smog. These clouds of ozone damage the lungs of healthy individuals who breathe it and, still worse, spell disaster for those with asthma and lung disease. There is a strong link between high smog concentrations and increased hospitalizations for people with respiratory problems. Even more troubling, even low levels of sulfur dioxide can trigger an asthma attack. According to the American Lung Association’s 2008 State of the Air report, residents of all regions of New York State breathe air with dangerously high levels of both particulate matter and ozone. According to the report, 8,260,033 New Yorkers live in counties that have failing air quality — equaling 48 percent (or nearly half) of the state’s residents. Add up the negative health consequences and it is clear that backyard burning is bad news. The American Lung Association of New York commends DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] for proposing strict regulations, as prohibiting backyard burning will go a long way toward cleaning up the air we breathe. MICHAEL SEILBACK Albany The writer is vice president of public policy and communications for the American Lung Association of New York.
By FRED LEBRUN, Staff writer First published in print: Sunday, March 15, 2009
All winter my burn barrel has been quiet. Too quiet.
Of course, the reason is that the precious 55-gallon drum has been upside down and frozen solid into the ground. But with our thaw last week and spring coming on Friday, it is again available and so eager to serve.
In my heart of environmental hearts, I do know my beloved burn barrel is a foolish anachronism, a sentimental holdover of my rural upbringing. My town allows limited use of burn barrels. Many municipalities do not, and that number is growing.
I've justified its use for years by insisting that I burn only paper and cardboard in it. What harm can there be in that? Absolutely no garbage or plastics, or other poisonous dioxin producers. Although a chemist friend said that if I knew how many potential carcinogens were in the dyes and colors in a lot of common packaging and cardboard that I do burn, I wouldn't let them in the house, let alone my barrel. Sometimes it's better not to know.
My winter burn barrel, in effect, is the fireplace, probably the single favorite feature of our old farmhouse. From end to end, the fireplace crackles every weekend, and with 23 acres of woods on the property, we are never at a loss for red oak, cherry, maple and ash to keep it going. In the fireplace, though, we burn only white waste paper as a fire starter. No slick colored paper, which goes in the garbage.
My wife is such a careful and methodical recycler that sometimes I get a headache just watching. There's a huge bin for waste aluminum that someday I'll haul over to Maish Freedman's waste metal recycler yard in Green Island and get 37 cents for it. But my wife will be pleased.
Otherwise, barrels for the usual recyclables, and another for deposit cans and bottles, far outnumber and overwhelm our two tiny garbage cans. We have our actual waste stream down to a piddle. My wife even cuts out each of the cellophane windows in the envelopes in the junk mail we get before I can burn the paper.
So, given her level of commitment, it comes as no surprise that she told me firmly in the voice that brooks no response that when I start up my burn barrel this week, cardboard is off limits. That, too, is now headed to the transfer station.
So poor, pitiful me, I am down to white waste paper and a few other bits to feed my burn barrel. I can see the handwriting on the wall and it's got me depressed, because it is getting harder and harder to be irresponsible.
Understandably, the state wants to put me out of business anyway. The Department of Environmental Conservation is trying to implement a statewide burn-barrel ban that also would prohibit open-fire burning of tree branches and other natural waste products by individuals and municipalities, a common clean-up occurrence out in the country....................http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=780066&TextPage=1
Pretty soon outdoor bon fires will end and SO WILL fires in home fireplaces. Mark my words. meanwhile in China and India (models for the one-world global liberals to worship) they pump billions of tons of crud and pollutants into the air, water and earth at a rate that would make the Love Canal seem like a virgin forest.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Ya, that's the ticket....stop all wood burning and put a ton of businesses out of business. Everyone from businesses that sell wood, pellets and wood stoves and pellet stoves. Yup...more dependency on foreign oil and our local utility companies! They are all nuts!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
EDITORIALS State on right track with outdoor wood boiler regulations
Owners of outdoor wood boilers are fired up about regulations the state Department of Environmental Conservation is working on that would restrict their use of the money-saving alternative heating systems. The boilers are used in place of gas- or oil-fired furnaces for steam or hot-water heating systems. As a story in the last Sunday’s Gazette indicated, they work great and produce considerable savings, but they also generate air pollution. And because their stacks are shorter than the average chimney, only six to 10 feet high, the pollution doesn’t dissipate well. So it can create not just aesthetic issues but serious respiratory problems for users as well as neighbors. (Burning wood produces lots of carbon monoxide and benzene, which is bad news for people with asthma and other respiratory woes. And that’s just clean wood; tossing a piece of varnished or chemically treated wood or other waste material on the fire makes the emissions even more toxic. Doing so is illegal, but virtually impossible to enforce. Thus, it’s virtually an honor system.) A number of communities across the state, including some in this region, have imposed moratoriums on new boilers, as well as regulations governing setback requirements and stack height, among other things. The regulations under development by the DEC would reportedly mirror some of these. They would obviously add to the cost of some installations while rendering others illegal, which is why people have been bombarding DEC and newspapers including this one with letters of protest. But the regulations are needed. The federal Environmental Protection Agency passed voluntary guidelines for manufacturers a couple of years ago, and some of the furnaces now on the market burn cleaner as a result. But not all. And cleaner really isn’t clean enough: The units still produce about three times more smoke and up to three times as much fine particulate matter as traditional wood stoves (equipped with catalytic converters). Proponents of these furnaces like to say that wood was around as a heat source long before heating oil and natural gas, and that’s certainly true. But there were a lot fewer people around in those days and...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00902
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