Epa Backs Up Burning Ban

The Northwest’s top federal environmental official is backing Washington state’s new plan to ban grass field burning by 1998.

The Washington Department of Ecology “deserves a lot of credit for making the hard decision on grass field burning,” said Chuck Clarke, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regional director in Seattle.

“The negative health effects are clear. It’s time to stop studying the issue and take action,” Clarke said.

The Ecology Department’s plan, announced Tuesday, calls for a 30 percent cutback in field burning this year and a total ban by 1998.

Nearly two-thirds of the state’s 41,000 acres of Kentucky bluegrass are in Spokane County.

, DataTimes