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| 11/14/2008 2:15:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Health board to hold public hearing on outdoor wood burning units
Regs would restrict location of wood-fired furnaces
The Oneida County Board of Health will hold a hearing next week to take public input on the proposed regulation of outdoor wood-fired furnaces.
The hearing will take place Monday, Nov. 17, at 5 p.m. in the second-floor boardroom of the Oneida County Courthouse in Rhinelander.
The board of health had already advanced the proposed regulations to the county board for approval, but supervisors thought the matter was of sufficient magnitude to order a public hearing.
The draft code would allow outdoor woodburning units/outdoor furnaces with an approved permit from the zoning department; the units would have to meet emission standards required by the Environmental Protection Agency and by the Outdoor Furnace Manufacturer's Caucus of the Hearth, Patio and Barbeque Association.
Specifically, the draft states, regulated units would include any accessory structure or appliance designed for use outside the principal structure to heat any principal or accessory structure on the premise through the transfer of heat via liquid or other means, by burning wood or other solid fuels.
Only natural untreated wood could be burned in the units. Lawfully operated fire pits, open burning, barbecues, fryers, grills and chimneys would not be regulated under the ordinance.
Outdoor wood-fired furnaces would have to be placed no less than 200 feet from any residence not served by the furnace. For existing units within that 200-foot boundary, the stack would have to be at least two feet higher than the peak of adjacent properties.
For units located between 200 and 500 feet of any residence not served by the furnace, the stack height would have to reach at least to the peak of adjacent properties.
Under the ordinance, the planning and zoning committee could approve a lesser stack height on a case-by-case basis if no hazard is posed to neighbors and the board of health recommends the lesser height.
A one-time permit for new units would be required under the ordinance. Owners of existing furnaces would have one year to obtain the needed permit for each unit, provided the stack height met the ordinance's requirements.
Why the regulation is needed
The ordinance has been drafted, Oneida County Health Department director Linda Conlon said this past summer, because outdoor wood-fired furnaces can pose a serious health hazard, particularly in residential areas.
"The reason for the ordinance is that research has proven that the types of fuel used, and the scale and duration of burning by outdoor woodburning furnaces, creates noxious and hazardous smoke, soot, fumes, odors and air pollution, and can be detrimental to citizens' health and can deprive neighboring residents of the enjoyment of their property or premises," she said in July.
Conlon said outdoor wood-fired furnaces are designed to maintain fire over long periods of time, and are designed to operate at low temperatures when not heating. What's more, she said, they frequently have a lower chimney height than an indoor stove.
"Restricted airflow and low operating temperatures can cause smoldering that results in excessive smoke," she said. "The smoke can cause both acute and chronic health problems if nearby residents are exposed. The adoption of a local ordinance regulating outdoor wood stoves is currently the best way to address these issues proactively."
The state of Wisconsin is also aggressively pushing local regulation of the units.
According to the state Department of Health Services, wood smoke contains a concoction of at least 100 different compounds in the form of gases and fine sooty particulate matter. Those include six of the Environmental Protection Agency's "criteria pollutants" in the National Ambient Air Quality Standard, including ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.
The American Lung Association is also promoting local ordinances. According to that group, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has stated that if a visible plume of smoke is present, the OWB is, without question, exceeding federal air quality standards. What's more, the group says, even when there is no visible plume, the air quality frequently is unsafe for human health. The lung association recommends that OWBs be placed no closer than 500 feet from the nearest neighbor, a far stricter requirement than the proposed Oneida County ordinance.
"Outdoor wood boilers can literally run night and day for six to eight months each year," said Ric Soto, a toxicologist and leadership board member of the Lung Association. "That can be a potential nightmare for a person living nearby who has asthma or heart disease. It can even reach the point where that person is forced out of his or her home, because the smoke gets so bad."
No consensus
Not everybody is on board with the proposed regulations.
Many county supervisors say they have received a lot of calls from people opposing the regulations, which in part prompted the demand for a public hearing.
And earlier this year, the county's zoning committee nixed a board of health request to help write the ordinance. The zoning department would be in charge of issuing permits for the units, because that department regulates structures and is set up to issue permits for structures, while the health department is not.
Still, zoning committee members felt the matter was a health issue, not a zoning one, and decided to let the board of health take its own resolution to the county board and to have the county board, if it so desired, direct the zoning committee to get involved.
Zoning committee chairman Scott Holewinski has been skeptical of the regulations. This past year he referred to the whole issue as a "can of worms."
"This sounds good, but what about the people who use firewood because they can't afford gas?" he asked. "Now you're going to tell them they can't have this, which is what is going to happen. It's just like anything else. How much do we want to regulate?"
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Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Article comment by:
Linda Karr
http://woodgasification.spaces.live.com
Posted: Sunday, November 16, 2008
Article comment by:
Bob S.
This is another case of bringing the city to the Northwoods. Someone in the business of selling stoves is probably behind it. Follow the money trail.
What happened to protecting the environment by burning biofuels, i.e., wood instead instead of coal, gas and oil.
Some people think the smell of burning wood is romantic.
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