Follow Ecology air quality news and tips on Twitter

Washington State Department of Ecology

Department of Ecology News Release - October 8, 2009

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Follow Ecology air quality news and tips on Twitter

OLYMPIA – Looking for quick updates and tips on air quality during this year’s home-heating season?

Turn to the social media tool Twitter to see air quality messages from the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology). The messages, called “tweets,” will focus on air quality issues and on ideas about how you can improve air quality where you live.

You can follow Ecology tweets by going to http://twitter.com/ecologywa. Air quality messages will:

Provide alerts and updates on air quality issues. For example, Ecology will use Twitter to help inform people about burn bans during the home-heating season, which started Oct. 1. Some people burn wood in wood stoves and other devices to heat their homes when temperatures drop. But poor burning habits and old, inefficient devices produce large amounts of wood smoke – one of the main air pollution problems in Washington. Ecology and local clean air agencies can issue burn bans when pollution caused by fine particles in smoke reaches unhealthy levels.
Supply year-round tips on how you can help protect and improve the air you breathe. Tips will focus on easy actions that you can take. Most “tweets” will include online links to more detailed information.

Wood stoves, fireplaces and other wood-burning devices put out hundreds of times more air pollution than other heating sources such as natural gas or electricity. Fine particles in smoke are so small they can easily get into your lungs. Once there, they can cause heart and breathing problems, and even death. People with asthma and breathing problems, children and older adults are most at risk.

How burn bans work

When fine particle pollution reaches unsafe levels, Ecology and local clean air agencies can call county-wide burn bans in their jurisdictions. These bans protect people’s health by limiting wood burning in those areas.

The 2008 Washington Legislature approved stricter air quality health standards to match new federal standards adopted in late 2006. The stricter standards better protect human health. This means Ecology likely will call more burn bans than in the past in its Central and Eastern Washington jurisdictions.

Last winter, Ecology issued burn bans in Chelan, Kittitas, Pend Oreille, Stevens, and Walla Walla counties. You can find information on burn bans here: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/outdoor_woodsmoke/Burn_Ban.htm.

Burn bans are called in stages:

Stage 1 burn bans are called based on weather conditions and rising pollution levels. No burning is allowed in wood-burning fireplaces, uncertified woodstoves or uncertified fireplace inserts, unless it is your only source of heat.
Stage 2 burn bans are called when fine particle pollution levels reach a “trigger value” set by state law. No burning is allowed in any wood-burning fireplace, woodstove or fireplace insert, unless it is your only source of heat.

Violating a burn ban could lead to penalties, including fines.

During Stage 1 and Stage 2 burn bans, all outdoor burning also is banned, even in areas where outdoor burning isn’t permanently banned. The bans include agricultural and forest burning.

Ecology jurisdictions

Ecology Central Regional Office: For Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Klickitat, and Okanogan counties. Call 509-575-2490.

Ecology Eastern Regional Office: For Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Walla Walla, and Whitman counties. Call 509-329-3400.

San Juan County: Call 425-649-7000.

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Media Contact: Seth Preston, Ecology communications manager, 360-407-6848; 360-584-5744 cell; spre461@ecy.wa.gov