Grass Burning Edict ‘Will Force Change’

Last week’s state edict to cut bluegrass field burning 66 percent in two years will force growers to develop no-burn alternatives, a top state air quality official said Wednesday.

“Just like in the auto industry, the new rules will force change,” said Joe Williams of the Washington Department of Ecology.

The field-burning debate blazed on this week at a department-sponsored workshop in Spokane. The new rules could change dramatically the future of the bluegrass industry in Washington.

More than 200 people attended the three-day workshop. Many were Spokane County growers with skeptical questions about the state’s surprise curtailment.

They complained they’ve been singled out when Spokane has many other sources of serious air pollution.

“Should we also ban cars in Spokane because there’s a carbon monoxide problem?” one grower asked.

A Spokane business owner disagreed.

It’s unfair to allow growers to continue to torch their fields when other industries have made major investments in air pollution equipment, said Greg Tenold of Spokane Steel Co.

His company, which employs 230 people and has a $5.5 million annual payroll, has invested $1.25 million in pollution-control equipment - including $250,000 this year for equipment to filter dirty air, Tenold said.

In the 1960s before the controls were in place, the steel foundry emitted 76 tons of pollutants. Now, it emits 3.1 tons yearly, Tenold said.

“Air pollution control is a cost of responsibly doing business,” Tenold said. “Farmers are not being singled out - they are simply the last industry to be controlled.”

The Ecology Department can’t ban field burning until it decides an “economical and practical” alternative is available. That was the focus of Tuesday’s workshop.

It’s possible to grow bluegrass without burning, but there are many problems, said crop and soil experts from three regional universities.

It will be more expensive, and in many cases, the seed yields per pound will shrink and more herbicides will be needed, they said.

Machinery used in Oregon to remove straw will have to be adapted for use in hilly sections of the Palouse.

“There’s only one manufacturer in the United States - and it’s not the size of John Deere,” said Dr. Glen Murray of the University of Idaho.

Nothing in the Palouse is as effective as open-field burning, said Dr. Bill Johnston of Washington State University.

But Dr. Tom Chastain of Oregon State University said he’s seen good results with some varieties of bluegrass grown on irrigated land in Eastern Oregon.

“When we did a thorough job of residue removal, it didn’t matter whether we burned or not,” Chastain said.

Much of the research is being paid for by the grass seed industry and then is used to justify continued burning, a critic said.

“If the industry had seriously committed itself to alternatives, they’d be in place - and this hall would be empty,” said Patricia Hoffman of Save Our Summers, a Spokane clean-air group.

The Ecology Department will conduct a full economic analysis before it orders a burning ban, said Grant Pfeifer of the department.

Health care for people with breathing problems during field-burning seasons should be included, activists said.

A toxicologist and an epidemiologist agreed Wednesday that tiny particles - including those found in grass smoke - are a serious health hazard.

However, the evidence linking grass smoke to hospital admissions in Spokane is weak, said University of Washington professor Jane Koenig.

Koenig praised Ecology Director Mary Riveland for her decision to douse field burning.

“This will take some adjustment (for farmers), but it will be a very positive step for public health in Washington,” she said.

Another study released Wednesday appears to link grass smoke with an increase in the purchase of emergency asthma medication on late summer and early fall weekends in Spokane.

“There was no correlation for the rest of the year,” said Dr. Roe Roberts of Eastern Washington University.

The debate raged on to the workshop’s final hours.

Spokane lung doctor Alan Whitehouse gave Ecology officials a petition from nearly 400 Spokane doctors who say field burning is a health hazard.

A farm wife launched her own petition drive last Thursday.

Theresa Mahn of Rockford, a nurse with Group Health in Spokane, gathered signatures of 1,844 people who support the bluegrass growers.

, DataTimes