Growers Try To Halt Burn Rules Area Grass Farmers Visit With Department Of Ecology Chiefs

In a Valentine’s Day visit to top Department of Ecology brass in Olympia, area grass growers tried to head off an effort by Spokane air quality regulators to curtail field burning.

Two Intermountain Grass Growers Association leaders had a private meeting with Ecology Director Mary Riveland and Joe Williams, the state’s top air cop.

The meeting was one week before a Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority workshop debated a proposed new regulation to reduce field burning over several years.

Fairfield bluegrass growers John Cornwall and Larry Gady “were here to express their concerns about the action the local air agency is considering taking,” Williams said.

Williams said the growers asked for the meeting. They asked the agency to make statewide regulations for the contentious field burning issue rather than let SCAPCA act alone, Williams said.

“They said it doesn’t seem fair this is only happening in Spokane County,” he said.

Cornwall disputed Williams’ account of the meeting.

“We didn’t go there to circumvent SCAPCA. We wanted direction on how we should go at the local level. They didn’t want to step in, so we went home,” Cornwall said.

The Department of Ecology can preempt the powers of local air agencies, including SCAPCA. But the agency has no intention of doing that, Williams said.

“We encouraged the growers to work with the local air agency,” he said.

Riveland has canceled two scheduled meetings with Spokane clean-air groups this winter, said Bonnie Mager of the Washington Environmental Council.

The cancellations were “weather-related” when her plane couldn’t get to Spokane, Williams said.

Riveland is scheduled to meet with the local clean-air groups next Thursday in Spokane.

The Ecology Department isn’t interested in clipping SCAPCA’s wings, Williams said.

“They’ve done a wonderful job in cleaning up the air. We have a lot of confidence in them,” he said.

SCAPCA officials were told about the department’s meeting with the growers, said director Eric Skelton.

“I don’t consider it much of a threat. My impression since I’ve been here is that Ecology’s air program is very supportive of local air regulators,” Skelton said.

SCAPCA’s five-member board will discuss its proposed field burning regulation on Thursday at its monthly meeting. A formal hearing will be scheduled later.

, DataTimes