Washington State Department of Ecology

Department of Ecology News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -Sept. 24, 1999

99-188

Contact: Jani Gilbert, Public Information Manager, 509-456-4464; pager, 509-622-1289

Court dismisses Save Our Summers' lawsuit against Ecology

SPOKANE-A Superior Court judge today dismissed a lawsuit brought against the state Department of Ecology by the Save Our Summers (SOS) group alleging that Ecology acted inappropriately by signing an agreement with the Washington Association of Wheat Growers.

In the agreement signed last February by Ecology, the wheat-growers group, and the state Department of Agriculture, the wheat growers agreed to voluntarily reduce field-burning emissions by 50 percent over seven years.

SOS filed the lawsuit in March 1999 alleging that the agreement constituted a formal rule or regulation that should be subject to rule-making procedures that are required by the state's Administrative Procedures Act. SOS also contended that the benefits of the agreement did not go far enough to protect public health.

Thurston Co. Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks dismissed the case today, concluding that the agreement was not a rule. According to attorneys who were present during the judge's ruling, Hicks remarked that it is hard to see how the agreement prejudices SOS members, since the agreement seeks to move growers in the direction of less burning, which is consistent with SOS's ultimate clean-air goals.

"The court has upheld our right to enter into voluntary agreements, and that is good for the environment and public health" said Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons. "Working with industry to voluntarily reduce pollution achieves results faster, and it's a more-efficient use of our scarce resources."

Fitzsimmons pointed out that the agreement was only one of the tools the department is using to minimize air pollution from field burning. Other tools include: a burning permit program, new best management practices to reduce or eliminate smoke from fields, an aggressive enforcement program, grower education, research into ways to reduce field burning, and air monitoring in small communities.

"Our staff has worked very hard and successfully to clean up the air in our state. It's something we all believe in very much, and I hope that Save Our Summers will work with us side by side in the future on this goal that we share," Fitzsimmons said.

Save Our Summers can appeal today's decision within 30 days to the Court of Appeals.