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Outdoor agricultural burning exacerbates smoggy haze
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| (DeSoto Times photo by Robert Lee Long) These charred fields at Craft and Church Road are all that remain of burned wheat fields. Outdoor burning is one of the causes of air pollution on hot, hazy days. |
By ROBERT LEE LONG/Community Editor
HERNANDO- DeSoto County is among 533 counties nationwide that could have difficulty meeting future air quality standards, according to Environmental Protection Agency data released recently in USA Today.
DeSoto County is among counties nationwide that would fail a 70 parts per billion standard that could be in effect by March 2008, according to that publication. A range of between 70 and 75 parts per billion was cited as the new standard.
DeSoto County is having difficulty meeting the current standard of 84 parts per billion, Assistant Planner Dan Callahan said Friday. He said it's likely no county in Mississippi would be in compliance.
Last Thursday, the EPA announced a plan to reduce the ozone levels in the atmosphere by 11 to 17 percent.
Smog levels are caused by a variety of factors, including car emissions, high temperatures, and stagnant air.
In 2004, DeSoto County registered at 80 parts per billion. By 2005, that level had risen to 84 ppb and spiked to 87 in 2006. A three-year average put DeSoto County in the 83 ppb range.
Outdoor burning, especially during ozone alert days should be prohibited, according to Callahan.
He argues that everyone in DeSoto County should be "on the same page" when it comes to outdoor burning.
Confusion over when burning is allowed exists because at least three different agencies issue permits. DeSoto County Emergency Management Service officials issue residential outdoor burning permits and commercial burning permits. U.S. Forestry officials issue burn permits for area farmers. The Department of Environmental Quality has oversight on environmental issues like outdoor burning.
When the U.S. Forestry Service issued burn permits for a wheat farmer in the Olive Branch area Thursday, an ozone alert was in effect. Hours before on the same day, DeSoto County Emergency officials had lifted the county's 14-day burn ban. That action caused a few raised eyebrows among those concerned about smoke contributing to smog levels.
"This is an area that deserves looking into," Callahan said. "There is room for dialogue. I don't know that anybody has talked to the farmers. What could the farmers live with, given the situation as it is today?"
Callahan said it might be possible farmers could postpone burning on ozone alert days or in the evening hours.
"We need to be a little more proactive," he said. "How do we get the word out without being Big Brother. We know the farmers have to make a living."
Art Smith, DeSoto County Agent, said the county's farmers have been complying with the burn ban, when it is in effect.
"Most farmers have been following the burn ban and they've been checking to see what the status is," Smith said. "The producers try to follow the guidelines. The major problem we have in agriculture is that we have such as narrow window to get our crops back in. Soybean farmers following wheat production involves a period in which you have just a few weeks to get beans planted or else you are behind the eight ball."
Robert Lee Long can be contacted at rlong@desototimes.com or at (662) 429-NEWS, Ext. 252.
DeSoto County is among counties nationwide that would fail a 70 parts per billion standard that could be in effect by March 2008, according to that publication. A range of between 70 and 75 parts per billion was cited as the new standard.
DeSoto County is having difficulty meeting the current standard of 84 parts per billion, Assistant Planner Dan Callahan said Friday. He said it's likely no county in Mississippi would be in compliance.
Last Thursday, the EPA announced a plan to reduce the ozone levels in the atmosphere by 11 to 17 percent.
Smog levels are caused by a variety of factors, including car emissions, high temperatures, and stagnant air.
In 2004, DeSoto County registered at 80 parts per billion. By 2005, that level had risen to 84 ppb and spiked to 87 in 2006. A three-year average put DeSoto County in the 83 ppb range.
Outdoor burning, especially during ozone alert days should be prohibited, according to Callahan.
He argues that everyone in DeSoto County should be "on the same page" when it comes to outdoor burning.
Confusion over when burning is allowed exists because at least three different agencies issue permits. DeSoto County Emergency Management Service officials issue residential outdoor burning permits and commercial burning permits. U.S. Forestry officials issue burn permits for area farmers. The Department of Environmental Quality has oversight on environmental issues like outdoor burning.
When the U.S. Forestry Service issued burn permits for a wheat farmer in the Olive Branch area Thursday, an ozone alert was in effect. Hours before on the same day, DeSoto County Emergency officials had lifted the county's 14-day burn ban. That action caused a few raised eyebrows among those concerned about smoke contributing to smog levels.
"This is an area that deserves looking into," Callahan said. "There is room for dialogue. I don't know that anybody has talked to the farmers. What could the farmers live with, given the situation as it is today?"
Callahan said it might be possible farmers could postpone burning on ozone alert days or in the evening hours.
"We need to be a little more proactive," he said. "How do we get the word out without being Big Brother. We know the farmers have to make a living."
Art Smith, DeSoto County Agent, said the county's farmers have been complying with the burn ban, when it is in effect.
"Most farmers have been following the burn ban and they've been checking to see what the status is," Smith said. "The producers try to follow the guidelines. The major problem we have in agriculture is that we have such as narrow window to get our crops back in. Soybean farmers following wheat production involves a period in which you have just a few weeks to get beans planted or else you are behind the eight ball."
Robert Lee Long can be contacted at rlong@desototimes.com or at (662) 429-NEWS, Ext. 252.
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