Pollution advisory, ‘no burn’ restrictions issued
Pollution advisory, ‘no burn’ restrictions issued
24 Dezember 2010
published by www.azcentral.com
USA — On this Christmas morning, there’s a chance you’re reading this somewhere near a blazing fire, one of the most enduring symbols of the holiday season.
If you are, Maricopa County has a request: Put it out.
As it has often in recent years, the county declared Christmas Eve and Christmas Day no-burn days, warning that the buildup of soot and other pollutants from fireplaces would fill the air with unhealthful dust particles and drape the Valley in haze.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality issued a high-pollution advisory for Saturday, which carries more specific warnings than the health watch issued for Friday. Under a high-pollution advisory, authorities caution everyone to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
Forecasters said conditions could improve by late Saturday or Sunday, but with the expected buildup of smoke from fireplaces, pollution readings are expected to remain in the unhealthful range.
“It’s not something we enjoy, to enforce a no-burn day on a holiday, especially on Christmas Day,” said Holly Ward, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Air Quality Department. “But for someone with asthma or bronchitis, it’s a health issue. They cannot breathe when the air is so polluted. We believe these restrictions can help us avoid unhealthy air.”
Yet the rules, however couched in health warnings, have stoked complaints from people who can’t give up the idea of a Christmas fire. They argue that air-quality regulators should concede this one day to tradition.
“I’ve lived in the Valley all my life, and the one thing that always makes it feel like Christmas is the fact that you can have a fire in the fireplace,” Phoenix resident Josh Mihaljevich said. “There needs to be give and take. We don’t have snow, we have fire. It signifies Christmastime.”
Air-monitoring records suggest others share the sentiment. Last year, Christmas Eve was a no-burn day, yet on a calm Christmas Day, levels of small dust particles at one air-quality monitor spiked to more than twice the limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, presumably because of widespread fireplace use.
Over the past four years, all but one of the county’s 14 small-particulate dust violations have occurred during December and January and all but three of those during the two-week holiday season.
The violations involve particles of dust 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter (an average human hair is about 70 micrometers in diameter) that can get into a person’s lungs and bloodstream and are linked to asthma, bronchitis and other breathing ailments, as well as heart and cardiovascular disease.
The particles can be produced by vehicle engines, power plants and traffic on dusty roads and highways, but during Christmas week, the main offender is fireplaces because so many are in use at once.
“People like to light a wood-burning fire for ambiance and crackle and the smell of the wood burning,” Ward said. “Unfortunately, when everyone lights a fire and you match that with stagnant air, we get the haze and it’s what we’re breathing in most immediately.”
The stagnant air is the key during winter months. A high-pressure ridge develops and creates a sort of bubble over the Valley, trapping cooler air near the ground’s surface and, with it, the smoke and dust. The result is the curtain of haze so familiar this time of year. Although a storm system cleared the air of coarser dust particles earlier this week, the small dust particles can accumulate rapidly, especially when so many fireplace owners open the flues at once.
Casaundra Brown moved to Phoenix from Minnesota and finally moved into a townhouse with a fireplace earlier this year. She decorated it for Christmas and hung stockings over the curved adobe-style mantle and looked forward to using it this weekend
“It’s definitely added to the Christmas ambiance,” she said. “It just looks more welcoming.”
Brown said she wouldn’t want to break the law, but she wants to understand why the county targets Christmas fires before she gives hers up.
Air-quality forecasters consider the potential for holiday fires as they decide whether to post pollution advisories or declare no-burn days. Sometimes it seems like the fix is in – if it’s Christmas or New Year’s, it’s a no-burn day – but Ward said it’s a matter of anticipating the sources of pollution, just as car-pool advisories are posted during ozone season for the next day’s rush hour.
“A no-burn day restriction is put into place when our air-quality levels are already approaching unhealthful levels,” Ward said. “Rush-hour traffic is not a factor on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but we do know fireplace burning is a tremendous source of pollution on those days.”
The county will deploy inspection patrols Saturday and will cite people found violating the no-burn restrictions. First-time violators receive a warning. Repeat offenders could face fines from $50 to $250. Critics call the inspectors the “chimney police” and wonder why anyone would spoil a Christmas Day gathering with a citation for a little fire.
“It’s a tough thing, sending them out,” Ward said. “We’re relying on folks to know the air quality is poor. It’s such a challenge because this is not a job for government alone. It’s so reliant on what everyone does. You can see the results in haze building up.”
Maricopa County officials want to avoid the sort of federal sanctions for the small dust particle pollution that could be imposed as early as January for high levels of larger particles, those 10 micrometers in diameter or larger. If the county continues to exceed EPA standards for smaller particles, it could be forced to impose stricter rules and penalties.
Michael Sigmon owns a house in Phoenix with a larger wood-burning fireplace. He said he likes the atmosphere a fire creates, but he also hikes Piestewa Peak regularly and sees the haze when it builds.
“These restrictions aren’t put there for no reason,” he said. “It would be nice to have a fire that night, but I’m not going to be put out if there’s a no-burn.”
