FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Members of a local Air Pollution Control Commission are asking the Fairbanks North Star Borough to take several steps to address heavily polluted air in the borough, including banning old wood stoves and putting restrictions on wood sales.
The new smoke pollution control measures are directed at the borough assembly and the mayor. They come as the borough has fallen short of clean air standards and the EPA has proposed reclassifying the borough as a “serious” non-attainment area.
The commission is recommending old wood stoves be banned in parts of Fairbanks and North Pole and that the borough add new requirements for wood storage. The panel has also asked the borough to consider implementing ultra-low sulfur home heating oil, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported (https://bit.ly/2ph2EFY).
Other suggestions include prohibiting the sale of wet wood form August to February and stepping up public education efforts.
The borough should start “neighborhood burn-wise groups” and a program that encourages people to take pride in proper wood burning with “I burn properly” yard signs, according to the commission.
“We need to be more creative on how we outreach,” said Kathleen Hook, the pollution control commission’s chairwoman.
The recommendations are part of a resolution signed by Hook last week and filed with the borough clerk’s office.
The borough aims to adopt new smoke pollution control measures this summer that the state will include in a plan for curbing pollution.
The EPA has asked the state to present a new plan by the end of the year.
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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, https://www.newsminer.com
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