Scapca Focuses On Cutting Down Smoke In Five Valley Communities

The Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority wants Valley residents to stop smoking.

This winter, SCAPCA’s regional campaign to reduce fireplace and wood stove smoke will focus on chimneys in Millwood, Liberty Lake, Newman Lake, Otis Orchards and Greenacres.

Air quality field staff recommended a Valley focus this year, based on smoke complaints and their own personal observations, said Ron Edgar, SCAPCA’s chief of technical services.

The Valley’s geography, especially in low-lying areas and around lakes, traps pollution and makes it slower to dissipate. When it does move, Edgar said, the area’s natural air currents tend to pull the Valley’s pollution west along the river until it reaches downtown.

“It’s a big funnel,” he said, and it impacts everyone along the way.

Besides Valley-specific advertising, SCAPCA will send out 9,500 “burn clean” reminders to residents of Millwood, Liberty Lake, Newman Lake, Otis Orchards and Greenacres next month. These are the Valley regions most at risk of high pollution levels, he said, especially on clear, calm winter days and during our area’s frequent nighttime inversions.

The Opportunity and south Pines Road areas also are prone to pollution problems, he said.

Residents of these and other stagnant areas can improve the air quality by burning small, hot fires that don’t produce as much smoke.

The most polluting fires are large ones that cool down and smolder for hours. Wet wood also causes smoky fires, Edgar said.

“If you burn a small fire that’s very hot, you’re also going to get more heat out of your stove,” Edgar said.

When county pollution levels get too high, SCAPCA calls for a full or partial ban of wood burning. It ordered just one ban last winter, and none so far this season.

Those who ignore the ban are subject to fines, usually $250 for a first offense. Temporary exemptions are available for residents without an alternate form of heat.

Overall, Edgar said, pollution levels have decreased in Spokane County in recent years. Wood stoves are less popular than in the 1980s, he said. Also, new stoves are designed to burn wood cleaner, and must now meet stringent EPA emissions standards to be legal. Besides burning the wood, many of these stoves repeatedly burn the smoke before it’s released through the flue.

Despite these improvements, SCAPCA still receives hundreds of wood-stove smoke complaints each winter, Edgar said, and problem areas continue to make breathing difficult for some residents.

“One person in a neighborhood,” he said, “can still cause a lot of people to suffer.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BURN CLEAN SCAPCA offers these tips for clean burning: Burn small, hot fires. Burn only pellets, manufactured logs or wood that has been dried and seasoned for at least six months. Use wood split into small pieces. Keep the damper open. Refuel the fire with one piece of wood at a time. Never burn magazines, painted wood, color newsprint, cardboard, wrapping paper, magazines, treated products or garbage. A clean fire will have no smoke, or smoke that’s barely visible. It should get to this point within 15 minutes of starting.