Opponents Air Their Burning Concerns Farmers Back Voluntary Agreements; Others Want Rules To Clear The Air

Farmers who depend on burning their fields clashed with parents of asthmatic children at an EPA hearing Wednesday west of Spokane.

About 70 people gathered at the Ramada Inn near the Spokane International Airport for a forum the Environmental Protection Agency says will help it decide what action it should take on field burning.

EPA officials took comments on a U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendation to create voluntary agreements with farmers to curb field burning. Some environmental groups say voluntary agreements are not enough to effectively clear the air.

A group of four EPA members first heard from field burning opponents who said the practice seriously challenges their health.

“I’m just going to tell you what our life has been in the last two weeks,” said Vicki Howard of Pullman.

When field burning begins, her son has severe breathing problems that require large amounts of medication to keep under control, she said.

“I can’t go anywhere,” she said, her voice cracking. “We always have to be on alert.”

But after five critics of field burning spoke, Jay Penner, chairman of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers Environmental Committee, told the audience that voluntary agreements will be more successful than creating new laws. He noted that there was a 28 percent decline in field burning during the first year of an agreement with the Washington Department of Ecology.

“This was achieved without the heavy hand of government regulation,” Penner said.

Penner also said burning helps prevent erosion, thus preventing water pollution.

Jeff Krautkraemer, of Pullman, told the EPA that more research on the hazards of field smoke is fine, but too many believe the burning should continue until it’s proved harmful.

“I think it should be the other way around,” he said. “The burden of proof should be on those who are burning.”

Krautkraemer’s son, Timothy, has asthma and is being represented by the Spokane clean air group, Save Our Summers, in a federal lawsuit challenging the agreement between farmers and the Ecology Department.

Bruce Rothermel came from Hope, Idaho, to present his concerns about burning.

“It amazes me that (farmers) deny responsibility for respiratory illnesses and deaths resulting from their burning,” Rothermel said in an interview after addressing the panel.

“They appear to be concerned about one thing and one thing only - that’s profit - regardless of the impact on people.”

But Gretchen Borck, director of issues for the growers group, said a small percentage of wheat acreage is burned, but what is burned is essential for producing better, cheaper crops.

“We’re working with the agencies. We’re looking for alternatives,” Borck said. “We need to farm so you have food.”