Despite laws regulating emissions for nearly everything from cars to weed eaters, in Pennsylvania local officials are on their own in dealing with the smoke from an increasing number of residential outdoor furnaces.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has no emissions laws on the books for the furnaces, but points instead to a voluntary program initiated with manufacturers to reduce the particulate matter coming out of the smoke stacks.
The state Department of Environmental Protection defines particulate matter as smaller particles that are likely to penetrate deeper into the respiratory system.
Advocates of the dollar-stretching outdoor wood and coal burners say the design, operation and emission issues have come a long way in the 20 or more years the furnaces have been around.
“They’re being built a lot better,” said David Nolan of Portage, who has been selling and installing the furnaces for a number of years.
“It’s about the ability of the furnaces to burn up more of the particulate matter and gases before they reach the smokestack,” said Robin Weaver, owner of Mahoning Wood Stoves in Mahaffey.
“We actually have a furnace we’re working on that will be more efficient. It will burn more of the particulate matter,” Weaver said. “We’re working with the EPA, but there is no federal standard. We want EPA to do something so everything is the same.”
But working with manufacturers has brought results more quickly than through regulation, said EPA spokesman Cathy Milbourne.
“It’s a voluntary program, that’s brought units to the market that are 90 percent cleaner in less than two years, faster than we would have accomplished with regulations,” Milbourne said.
Environmental watchdogs say the federal and state initiatives fall far short of a suitable solution.
“We’d like to see better safeguards for neighbors,” said Charles McPhedran, a lawyer with PennFuture, a statewide environmental group.
PennFuture wants DEP to help the municipalities with what it views as a new and growing source of air-quality problems.
The help is especially needed in those 21 counties which fail to meet fine particulate air quality standards.
Cambria County is one of the 21, McPhedran said.
DEP spokesman Charlie Young said the agency already is following the law by allowing regulation by local officials.
“Our state Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control limits DEP’s ability to regulate,” Young said.
DEP is developing a model ordinance geared at getting the smoke up and away from residential areas, requiring stacks be at least 15 feet high. The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors also is on board with a sample ordinance applicable for local use.
The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management applauds EPA and manufacturers’ efforts for clearer burning furnaces, but prefers clearer burning natural gas or fuel oil.
“In the space of about a year, (DEP has) managed to clean (the furnaces) up, but they’re still about 100 percent more polluting,” than other heat sources, NESCAUM Deputy Director Paul Miller said. “It’s more than a nuisance that these things put out.”
As local officials and agencies grapple with ways to minimize inconvenience and potential health issues for those living near the furnaces, the state is searching for ways to produce more of the fuel needed to keep them operating.
“One thing we’re looking at is how to develop fast-growing hardwoods on waste-coal lands,” Young said.
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