Health board drafts ordinance to regulate outdoor woodburners
Inaccurate rumors pollute debate over outside furnaces
Concerned about emissions of particulate matter from outdoor wood-fired furnaces, the Oneida County Health Department is shaping an ordinance to regulate their use, but this past week concerns about the ordinance spewed forth their own thick clouds of particulate rumors, most of them inaccurate.
The Lakeland Times received multiple phone calls this week from citizens who heard the county was planning to ban the units. That's not so, but, as The Times has previously reported, there is a push to control their placement and stack height and to require permits, among other things.
So far, the county board of health has not approved a final resolution to send to the county board, but a draft is in place. That document may well morph into something different: the board of health has requested and is awaiting a comparison table of other local outdoor woodburning furnace ordinances, health department director Linda Conlon told The Times in an email.
As it stands now, though, 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 feet 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.
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, Conlon says, 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.
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.
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