They aren't asking this time.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) has issued its first Winter Spare the Air Alert of the 2012 season for Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. Burning wood, manufactured fire logs or any other solid fuel — either indoors and outdoors — is banned for 24 hours.
The ban — making it illegal to light a New Year's Day fire — has been put in place to avoid trapping pollutants in atmosphere, according to the district. Cold, still weather conditions due to continue through mid-week cause air to cool close to the ground, creating an inversion layer of warmer air above, explained the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in a press release. In windless conditions, wood smoke and other pollution can get trapped under this lid of warm air can and build up rapidly to unhealthy levels.
"Sitting by the fire during the holidays may conjure up fond memories, but it’s important that everyone forgoes burning during this alert so we can all enjoy a happy, healthy holiday," said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District in the release.
The district says that exposure to wood smoke — as with cigarette smoke — has been linked to serious respiratory illnesses and even increased risk of heart attacks. Breathing fine particles or soot accounts for more than 90 percent of premature deaths related to air pollution, according to BAAQMD.
It is illegal for Bay Area residents and businesses to use their fireplaces during a Spare the Air Alert. Woodstoves and inserts, pellet stoves, outdoor fire pits, or any other wood-burning devices are included in the ban. An exemption is available for residents and businesses that burn wood as their sole source of heat and have no other permanently installed heating source, according to the district.
Before lighting a fire during the Winter Spare the Air season, which runs from November 1 through February 28, check to ensure that no bans are in place. Find the daily burn status:
- On the Air District Web sites: www.baaqmd.gov or www.sparetheair.org
- Via the toll-free hotline 1-877-4-NO-BURN (complaints can also be filed via the hotline)
- By signing up for AirAlerts at www.sparetheair.org or phone alerts at 1-800-430-1515
Wood smoke is the largest source of wintertime air pollution in the Bay Area, according to BAAQMD, and contains harmful pollutants such as particulate matter and carbon monoxide, as well as toxins which are linked to increased cancer rates in adults. In the winter, wood smoke from the 1.4 million fireplaces and wood stoves in the Bay Area contributes about one-third of the harmful particulate pollution in the air.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (www.baaqmd.gov) is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area.
(Unlike the southern US, we also do not generally burn stuff to get rid of it. My son's worst asthma attack was after they burned a lot of eucalyptus on Angel Island, about 1995, and the wind blew this way. It was a less expensive means of disposal, but not for us. My son's symptoms were so bad that the ER was not enough, and he spent 3 nights in the hospital. I like to think that was a lesson learned, because I don't recall something that stupid happening since.) The idea of a regional district is wonderful. It encompasses all 9 counties -- and those include places with a lot of traffic, various industries, etc. 350 staff for a professional operation spanning 9 busy counties (needing to monitor, plan, make scientific assessments, coordinate with other agencies, and work with businesses) does not sound terribly oversized. On average, that is fewer than 40 workers per county. Our own county is rather large, and contains a number of industries, including refineries. I prefer for BAAQMD to be on the job when Chevron has a whoopsie -- and before then, too!
By the way, does this remind anyone else of the days when non-smokers had to endure cigarette smoke in public places?? That was a long process but eventually the right to breathe won over any one person's right to pollute.
Eighteen percent of PG&E's power is produced by the burning of coal but I bet that doesn't bother you as you are not actually next door to one of the plants, right? And who cares if said plants emit millions of tons of CO2 every year as long as you can continue to live in a bubble of sanctimony and pretend they don't exist, right? Viva la arrogancia! Viva!
http://www.guccibeltstb.com Gucci Belt http://www.coachoutletonlinetdy.com Coach Outlet Online http://www.cocoachoutletonline.org Coach Online Outlet http://www.coachoutletonlinetsy.net Coach Bags Outlet