Burn ban challenged in Adirondack uproar

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June 27, 2008

By KIM SMITH DEDAM The Press Republican Fri Jun 27, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

SARANAC LAKE -- The proposed statewide burn ban got doused with furor here.

Outrage came mostly from those who don't equate burning household trash with safely burning forest debris.

Both would be banned by new conservation regulation 215.1.

The Department of Environmental Conservation held its sole public hearing in the North Country on Thursday at Harrietstown Town Hall, the fifth of 11 sessions planned around the state.

At issue is a proposed outlaw of all outdoor fires, barrels, brush piles and farm burning with exceptions made for a dozen specific circumstances including firefighter practice fires, ceremonial burning and campfires 3-by-3 feet square.

Jim McCulley, a North Elba landowner, called the proposed burn ban another assault on people who would then be forced to truck or pay for brush disposal.

"Here's a thought, why don't we ban burning plastics?" McCulley said.

Most people living near the forest have to contend with brush and tree clearing, especially after storms and winter snowfall.

Greg Wallace, supervisor of Long Lake, said they have a town burning pit to help landowners and highway crews keep roadways and yards clear of downed trees and brush.

It's common sense to not burn plastics, he said, "but what's going to happen with municipal burning?"

Wallace urged DEC to rethink parameters for Adirondack communities.

"I don't think one size fits all."

Arthur Lussi, an Adirondack Park Agency commissioner and proprietor of the Crown Plaza Resort said they operate three golf courses in Lake Placid surrounded by woods.

"What's going to happen to all the brush if we can't burn it anymore?" he asked. "This new policy encourages chipping, but when you run a chipper it burns 2 to 3 gallons of gas per hour."

Clearing the golf course by moving brush to the edge of the woods creates a "perfect storm," Lussi said, "for forest fires fueled by acres of brush."

Lussi said he does support a ban on burning household garbage.

Suzanne Goolden, of Saranac Lake, said as a landowner, she's contending with many trees brought down in recent storms.

"Using chippers is not tenable in the Adirondacks."

Howard Aubin, of AuSable Forks, asked how DEC could add regulation without approval from the legislature.

"Where is the statutory authority for this?"

DEC Environmental Engineer Greg LaBarge said regulatory authority was granted when DEC was established.

He said the question would be answered fully in DEC response to public comments.

The burn ban has been brought to the state Legislature repeatedly since it was first recommended by the Department of Health in 1968.

The measure carries in the Assembly and gets thrown out of the Senate, LaBarge said, calling it a "political" issue.

Few comments supported the proposed burn ban as written.

Don Hassig, of Cancer Prevention New York, said they are "very supportive" of what DEC is doing to stop air pollution from burning chemicals.

But, he added, "brush-fire burning is a reasonable change" to the regulation.

In the question and answer session, LaBarge said one-third of comments gathered so far are against the burn ban; one-third support it; and one-third request an exception for burning brush.

DEC proposed the burn ban to reduce particulates and gases released from open outdoor fires.

They have extended their public-comment period by a month to August 14 at 5 p.m.

Comments can be made online at 215fires@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

kdedam@pressrepublican.com