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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- June 14, 1999
99-121
Contact: Jani Gilbert, Public Information Manager, (509) 456-4464; pager, (509) 456-6175
SPOKANE-Eighty-seven wheat farmers and three grass-seed growers in nine Eastern Washington counties today will be notified by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) that they illegally burned wheat fields in 1998.
Violations were documented by Ecology last fall both from the ground and from aerial observations. The growers either burned fields without a permit or burned on a "no-burn" day.
Each notice of violation may be followed with fines after 30 days. State law allows for penalties of up to $10,000 per day per air-quality violation.
"Enforcing the agricultural burning regulations is an extremely important component of the effort to reduce smoke for Eastern Washington citizens," said Grant Pfeifer, Eastern Washington’s air-quality supervisor. "Last fall, we were in the field and in the air as much as our limited resources would allow, because we feel it is very important."
State regulations require that growers obtain a burning permit from Ecology, local air authorities or from one of its 12 delegated permitting authorities, depending on the location of the field. Farmers are required to pay a permit fee.
Occasionally, a "no-burn" day is called because weather conditions prohibit adequate smoke dispersion.
"The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) is beginning grower education to ensure that compliance with the new BMPs reaches 100-percent," said Brett Blankenship of WAWG. "The association is fully committed to reaching the clean air goals set in the memorandum of agreement."
WAWG agreed early this year to voluntarily decrease burning by 50-percent within seven years. The association signed a memorandum of agreement with Ecology and the state Department of Agriculture in February.
The bulk of these burning violations occurred in Adams, Columbia, Douglas, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Spokane, Walla Walla and Whitman counties.
Ecology used a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to find the latitude and longitude of burned agricultural fields that were observed from the air. The information was cross-checked with wide-angle aerial photography to affirm the accuracy of the positions marked.
The data were plotted onto a map that was used to determine if property owners had legally obtained permits to burn each field marked.
Growers who apply for a permit must show they are using current "best management practices" (BMPs) to address particular problems in their fields, such as insect infestations, weeds, plant diseases and excess field residue.
This year, the state’s Agricultural Burning Practices and Research Task Force re-wrote the BMPs to further reduce smoke emissions. Growers are required to document the need to burn before a permit is considered.
The BMPs encourage the use of alternatives to burning. Under some circumstances, burning will not be allowed at all.
"Growers who go to the time and expense to get a permit for their burning should not suffer because some growers choose to burn illegally," Pfeifer said. "Most growers are doing the right thing."
Agricultural burning is a major source of particulates that can cause breathing problems and aggravate existing pulmonary conditions. Small particles can enter the lungs, bypassing the body’s defenses and causing structural and chemical changes. Toxic and cancer-causing compounds can attach themselves to particles and "hitchhike" into the lung as well.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
