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Department of Ecology News Release - June 22, 2000
00-114
SPOKANE - A Moses Lake man is being fined by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) for burning debris from a trailer and other materials in the Perch Point mobile home park on two days last February.
John Henry Marth has received a $12,000 penalty for burning prohibited materials that can cause serious air pollution. Washington state law prohibits burning "garbage, dead animals, asphalt, petroleum products, paints, rubber products, plastics, or any substance (other than natural vegetation) that normally emits toxic [compounds], dense smoke or obnoxious odors."
The toxic fumes emitted from burning those materials causes health problems by irritating sensitive membranes and lung tissue. The emissions contain cancer-causing compounds as well.
The February incidents are not the first time Marth has violated the burning law. In January 1999, Marth received a notice of violation from the Benton Clean Air Authority for burning prohibited materials in a Benton County mobile-home park in December 1998.
Marth may appeal his fine to the state's Pollution Control Hearings Board within 30 days or file an application for relief with Ecology within 15 days.
Contact: Jani Gilbert, public Information Manager, 509-456-4464; pager, 509-622-1289
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
