Florez, Fresno council tackle Valley pollution

Fresno debates today whether to ban log-burning fireplaces.

By Barbara Anderson
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Tuesday, January 7, 2003, 10:45 AM)

For a fifth day since the beginning of this year, sooty air made it unhealthy to breathe in the San Joaquin Valley as unrelenting fog trapped tiny pieces of fireplace ash and exhaust particles close to the ground.

The chronic wintertime air pollution problem -- and what role residential wood burning plays in smoke-filled skies -- surfaced on today's Fresno City Council agenda.

Incoming City Council Member Henry T. Perea pledged to make residential wood burning his first order of business. On the council agenda: his request that the city attorney draft an ordinance banning log-burning fireplaces in new housing developments in favor of gas-burning fireplaces.

"We need to start thinking out of the box and really become aggressive," Perea said.

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District stopped short of asking people not to burn wood in fireplaces and wood stoves tonight, but residents are asked not to burn until after 3 p.m. today.

Farmers are not allowed to burn agricultural cuttings today.

Valley air pollution officials warned children, the elderly and people with chronic heart and lung diseases to limit their time outdoors as today's air quality index in the Fresno region is expected to reach 147. A level of 101 to 150 is dangerous for children, asthmatics and other sensitive groups. A level above 150 is unhealthful for everyone.

The main pollutant source: microscopic particles 1/28th the diameter of a hair -- small enough to be inhaled and lodged into the lungs.

Perea said he is passionate about air quality in Fresno and made the issue part of his campaign. Fresno's high rate of asthma worries him. One out of six children has the lung disease -- the highest rate in the state.

Son of former City Council President Henry Perea, the younger Perea said: "I started using an [asthma] inhaler about three years ago."

The building industry supports the concept of an ordinance, Perea said. "The builders understand that we all have to do our part to make the air quality better."

Jeff Roberts, a planner for Granville Homes, said offering homes with gas fireplaces is one way builders can participate in cleaning up the air. "Every day, we're reading about air-quality issues ... and this is one way we can actually help, so we will be supportive."

Perea said he's confident the City Council will back his idea.

But Council Member Jerry Duncan questions spending an estimated $5,000 to write an ordinance that would be unnecessary once the Valley air district implements a regional wood-burning rule of its own this year.

The air district wants to limit the number of fireplaces or wood stoves to one per acre of housing, require home sellers to replace or dismantle wood-burning stoves or inserts and restrict residential wood burning on polluted winter nights. Homes with wood as the only source of heat would be exempt. Public hearings on the proposal will continue in February.

"I don't know if a city ordinance would do anything," Duncan said. "And given our budget, we cannot afford the city attorney spending time writing something we don't need."

The air district is supportive of Perea's ordinance, said Charlie Goldberg, an agency spokesman.

"We think that anything that would limit emissions is a good idea, and even if our rule has similar goals, it is a show of support by the city for reducing wintertime emissions," he said.

The fireplace ordinance is set for a 3:15 discussion today before the City Council. If the council directs staff members to write an ordinance banning new fireplaces, it then will return to the public for a hearing and a vote.

The reporter can be reached at banderson@fresnobee.com or 441-6310.

"We think that anything that would limit emissions is a good idea, and even if our rule has similar goals, it is a show of support by the city for reducing ... emissions."

-- Charlie Goldberg, an air district spokesman