Any hopes of Lumby joining a revitalized air quality initiative have gone up in smoke. The City of Vernon has asked the North Okanagan Regional District to re-establish the air quality function, but Lumby council won’t participate. “We’re in rural Lumby and we’re telling people to put in wood burning devices. Yet you look across the valley and you see a slash pile,” said Mayor Kevin Acton, adding that there is a need for the provincial government to handle those situations. “When someone is burning a slash pile as big as my house, I’m not going to worry about a guy with a backyard pit so he can roast hot dogs.” In March, the NORD board voted to eliminate $49,576 from the 2010 tax requisition for an air quality function, and will use reserves to fund remaining activities. On the expenditure side, the budget was cut from $87,780 to a projected $23,068. City of Vernon staff recently reported that the lack of dedicated staff towards air quality is restricting access to government grants and air quality programs.
Acton questions the need for a function, saying that it’s quite clear that road dust is the primary cause of pollution. “When we hear of a great solution for that, we will take action,” he said.
Vernon officials insist there is a need to tackle air pollution on a regional basis. “Air quality services provided by the regional district prior to the elimination of the air quality function included education addressing anti-idling, open burning, dust control, emissions management and wood stove efficiency,” said Brooke Marshall, the city’s environmental planner, in a written memo. “An orchard wood waste chipping program was initiated and bylaw harmonization, as well as data collection and analysis in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Interior Health.” NORD is waiting to hear from other member jurisdictions on an air quality function.
1 comment:
Holy...common sense on backyard weinie roasting. Can't have that in NORD now can we?
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