Health concerns about burning prompt local response

By Marcy Stamper

With fall moisture and cooler temperatures, most summer burn bans have been lifted. But cool weather can prompt other bans on burning to protect air quality and public health — and those bans often go unnoticed.

A new program called the Methow Valley Clean Air Project is trying to change that with low- and high-tech methods that make it easy to know when the air is unhealthy and a winter burn ban is in effect.

The project already has sandwich boards at TwispWorks and the Mazama Store, which are updated daily with color-coded labels showing air quality and whether there is a ban on burning. The Clean Air Project will also provide the information on local radio stations. Details for signage in Winthrop are being worked out.

For those who want more in-depth information, the project has a free app for iPhones that provides real-time readings of air quality and burn-ban status.

Raleigh Bowden came up with the idea for the Clean Air Project last winter as she was headed out of the valley. “The first day of the burn ban, I saw 11 outdoor fires, just between Twisp and Carlton,” said Bowden, who got riled up thinking about the effect on people she cares for through the Lookout Coalition, many of whom have chronic respiratory conditions. Some of these people have to leave the valley every time it gets smoky, she said.

Bowden connected with Jay Carmony, smoke management specialist for the state Department of Ecology, to see what they could do to make sure people knew about the bans and to improve the air during the winter.

Burn bans are imposed in the fall and winter for reasons very different from the more-familiar summer bans intended to prevent wildfires.

Winter bans are declared when unhealthy smoke particles become trapped in the air during an inversion, or when moist, maritime air moves into the area and keeps the layer of smoke closer to the ground, said Bowden. Inversions typically occur when it is cold and clear with little wind.

Carmony and his small staff cover five counties, handling compliance and issuing about 500 burn permits a year. But if no one files a complaint about smoke or burning, Carmony, who is based in Union Gap, said he doesn’t necessarily know if there is a problem.

When he does get a complaint, Carmony will suggest cleaner ways to burn in a wood stove and/or to dispose of excess vegetation, but he also issues fines for illegal burning, starting at $2,000 a day.

Bowden said her group wanted to address the situation through education, rather than enforcement. “It’s something we can do something about in the winter,” she said.

Bowden pulled together a steering committee for the Clean Air Project, with representatives from the Methow Conservancy, the Methow Valley Citizens’ Council and concerned community members.

They received a $3,000 grant from Ecology, which paid for the air-quality signs and for local programmer Brian Drye to create the phone app.

Ecology has worked with other regions in the state that have more serious problems with air pollution, but this project was different. “It’s unique because the community came to Ecology,” said Carmony.

Bowden said the graphs from the local air monitoring stations show unhealthy levels start to rise in October, peak in January, and go down in March. A third of the days have only moderate air quality, as opposed to good. The rest of the year they are relatively flat — except for spikes caused by wildfires, she said.

In the winter, it usually takes several days for the “dirty ridge” — the grayish-blue or brown layer that appears just below the inversion — to develop, said Carmony. But once it’s there, it tends to hang on.

“The Methow Valley does enjoy really clean air a lot of the time,” said Carmony. But the days with bad air have been getting worse over the past five years, according to readings from the local monitoring stations, he said.

This has a huge health consequence — people miss work, have to go to the emergency room, or develop respiratory infections such as pneumonia, said Bowden.

Burn cleaner, stay warmer

When these conditions create harmful levels of the tiny particles of wood smoke, all outdoor burning is prohibited, as is the use of uncertified wood stoves — unless people have no other heat source.

“Certified” stoves have a special rating from the Environmental Protection Agency. They are typically newer than 1990 and have a silver placard on the back, said Carmony.

“The smoke problem affects the poorest people, who have funky old stoves,” said Bowden.

The biggest exposure from inefficient stoves is on those in the household, since air can be unhealthy even if the room doesn’t smell smoky or people don’t notice it, said Bowden. Smoke particles are really tiny — one-quarter the size of a particle of dust.

Healthy people are also affected. Babies, children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable, since their lungs are still growing and they will live with the effects of smoke for many years, said Bowden.

Project organizers are still looking for funding to help replace old wood stoves, which cost from $2,500 to $5,500 each. They are also looking for money to create an app for Android phones, said Bowden.

For information about air quality and burn bans in Okanogan County, call (509) 575-2490 and ask for the smoke team member on duty. Information about air quality is at 1-866-211-6284. Information is also available online at waburnbans.net.