Grass-Seed Growers Fined For Burn Violations Total For Six Farmers Exceeds $90,000
The state Department of Ecology has ordered fines totaling $90,875 against six grass-seed growers, accusing them of burning too much grass stubble.
Agency officials who investigated from the ground and the air determined the farmers burned more than the allowable acreage during the 1997 burning season, the Ecology Department said.
As part of a program to phase out grass field burning, farmers this year were allowed to burn only one-third of the amount they had burned in 1995.
The six penalties bring to 10 the number of grass-seed farmers who have been fined this year, agency spokeswoman Jani Gilbert said.
“Nearly 200 farmers complied with the burning restriction, but several others continued burning as usual,” said Grant Pfeifer, the agency’s air quality supervisor for Eastern Washington. “We cannot ignore these violations.”
The largest fine announced Tuesday was levied against Patrick Heinen of Mesa, accused of illegally burning 580 acres and penalized $30,000.
The others were: Charles Sayre of Pasco with 266 acres and a $19,734 fine; Robert Schuh of Mesa, 113 acres and $10,000; Phil Rathbun of Connell, 233 acres and $14,792; Rodney Cronin of Othello, 107 acres and $9,893; and Eugene Andrews of Mesa, 32 acres and $6,456.
The penalties were based on state clean air requirements and were limited under federal law to $10,000 per day per violation, the department said.
The growers can appeal the fines to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.
Cronin told the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick that he bought a permit for the burning, then heard he was in trouble six weeks later. He said he planned to appeal.
Rathbun also told the newspaper he planned to appeal. He declined to comment further.
Grass seed growers traditionally burn their field stubble after each year’s harvest to prepare the ground for the following year’s crop and reduce insects and diseases.
The program to phase out burning was adopted last year in response to complaints that smoke from the grass field burning threatens public health and violates air quality standards.
The Ecology Department said last month it was committed to ending grass field burning by next year. The agency said it would drop some other projects to concentrate on finding a way to help farmers grow seed without burning fields.
The agency has reduced the amount of grassseed fields burned by two-thirds in the past two seasons. But to eliminate the final one-third, the agency must approve a commercially viable alternative.
The Ecology Department hopes to certify an alternative to burning by the middle of next year.