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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Environment - Continuing coverage of: Communities seek to regulate outdoor wood-fired boilers
Adding to a long list of ILB entries on the regulation of outdoor wood-fired boilers in Indiana, the Michigan City News-Dispatch reports today, in a story by Laurie Wink:
La PORTE - The City of La Porte joined a growing list of communities taking seriously the public health threats believed to be posed by outdoor hydronic heaters, also known as outdoor wood-fired boilers.The City Council voted 5-1 in favor of adopting an ordinance to limit the amount of emissions and particulate matter the units can emit within city limits. The La Porte ordinance is similar to one already enacted by Michigan City and one under consideration by Long Beach. * * *
Unlike fireplaces inside a home, outdoor units do not operate continuously at high heat, releasing smoke high into the air through a chimney. Instead, they're designed to dampen down the fire when sufficient heat has been produced. The reduced burning causes smoldering, which puts out emissions relative low to the ground as well as tiny particulars of chemicals such as benzene known health hazards.
In the city, residential lots are not large enough to allow the outdoor burners to be positioned far enough from the user's house and the neighbors' houses to keep the smoke and emissions from entering adjacent properties.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 8, 2007 10:22 AM
Posted to Environment