newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — The latest research on winter air pollution in Fairbanks might help clear the air about just how much of the problem is caused by wood smoke.

A detailed analysis of air filters from last February showed an average of 43 percent wood smoke in the pollutants measured at various locations, said Jim Conner, the air quality specialist at the borough.

The Carbon 14 analysis on these filters is “reliable and scientifically defensible,” Conner said.

The tests show a range of wood smoke particles in the pollution mix, from 27 percent at Peger Road to 62 percent in North Pole. The reading downtown was 47 percent, and it was 44 percent at the UAF experimental farm.

“This winter, we intend to gather more filters to be submitted to this analysis to improve the statistics,” he said. “The analysis is an expensive and time-consuming process and at this point we only have 12 filters analyzed from representative days.”

He said on most of those days Fairbanks did not exceed the pollution limits.

“The bottom line here is that we can safely assert that at least 40 percent of our problem is wood smoke,” he said.

“This is very positive for Fairbanks and North Pole because voluntary programs should be able to cut that in half,” he said.

If the wood smoke portion of total pollution can be cut in half, Fairbanks would meet the current air standard. Research has shown that these tiny particles, about one-thirtieth the width of a human hair or smaller, lodge deep in the lungs when they are inhaled.

“We can still pursue the sulfur in the fuel and cleaner fuel solutions but with community support and involvement the health issue can be immediately addressed,” he said.

One of the more challenging parts of reducing wood smoke pollution is educating people to burn dry wood, which doesn’t create as much soot.

This means either cutting wood six to nine months before burning it or buying wood from someone who has had it drying for that long.

The state Division of Forestry notes that green wood can be up to 80 percent moisture, but it should be dried to about 25 percent before it is burned.

“Wood must be cut into pieces and stacked out of the rain for at least 6-9 months to season properly,” the Division of Forestry says.

Alice Edwards of the state Department of Environmental Conservation says that the state and borough plan to continue various research efforts this winter.

The three fixed sites from which air samples are gathered are the state office building downtown, North Pole Elementary School and the Peger Road Transit Building.

“Additionally a mobile site will be moved to three to four different locations over the winter to take a closer look at certain neighborhoods,” said Edwards, the acting director of the Division of Air Quality.

“These sites are supposed to help us better understand the conditions under which areas exceed PM 2.5 standards, and to further examine how the various sources contribute to exceedance events. The data will be used to tailor successful mitigation strategies,” she said.

The borough will continue a mobile monitoring program, running samples on Airport Way and other “hot spots.”

She said a new study is to begin this winter about vehicle emissions and whether so-called “cold starts” contribute to the particulate problem.

Among the entities involved in the research, which includes air modeling studies, are UAF, the University of Montana, Research Triangle Institute, Sierra Research and the EPA.

•••

VEHICLE TESTS: As I wrote here Thursday, we still don’t know when EPA will issue a final decision on the future of the Inspection/Maintenance program in Fairbanks. The borough is canceling it as of Jan. 1 and the EPA has tentatively said that’s OK.

But the comment period for the EPA action didn’t end until Thursday. If the agency acts before the end of the year to end the program, then there will not be an I/M program next year.

However, if the EPA doesn’t act before the end of the year, the Department of Environmental Conservation might have to implement a temporary program under existing regulations.

“Though DEC is bound by regulation to ensure a program, they are not planning on it as they are hoping approval will come from EPA in time,” said Glenn Miller, borough transportation director.

•••

SEXTON SERVICE: The funeral mass for the late Jack Sexton will be at Immaculate Conception Church on Oct. 24 at

2 p.m. It will be followed by a gathering at the “church annex,” a term heard in reference to the Big I during the Sexton era.

•••

GAS CONTRACT: Fairbanks Natural Gas has signed a new three-year deal to acquire natural gas from Cook Inlet for its 1,100 customers in the Fairbanks area.

FNG will buy the gas from Aurora Gas LLC, liquefy it in a plant at Point MacKenzie and truck it to Fairbanks. The supply contract calls for FNG to receive up to 5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day for three years starting next June.

FNG President Dan Britton said in a prepared statement, “This three-year gas supply adds significant security during these strenuous times in the Cook Inlet gas market.”