St. Lawrence County Planning Office

Open Burning Awareness Campaign

In April 2002 the Operations Committee of the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators decided that a local County law to try and control the open burning of solid waste was not feasible, but that funding for conducting an open burning education effort would be appropriate.  The committee requested that the County Planning Board and Environmental Management Council develop a range of funding options and report back to this committee.

A joint committee was composed of 14 CPB or EMC members.  In addition, the committee enjoyed substantial participation by interested members of the public-at-large, including Miles Manchester, Chris Neurath, Steven Manders and Susan Kramer who provided many good suggestions and have a keen interest in continuing to participate as volunteers.

The mission of the joint committee was to: “Develop a range of educational / public awareness alternatives to convey information on the hazards of open burning of municipal solid waste, with attendant costs.”  The joint committee identified four  target audiences: children, seniors, the agricultural community and rural residents.

Committee members also met with representatives from the Clarkson University Center for the Environment and SUNY Potsdam to discuss their participation in an education program.  Both institutions are very interested in this topic and have been able to provide substantial support to the effort.

Open Burning Awareness Campaign Materials

• Summary of St. Lawrence County Communities Regulations on Open Burning
• Map of St. Lawrence County Communities That Regulate Open Burning
• St. Lawrence County Open Burning Health Hazards Awareness Campaign Summary Report
  May 2006
• National Academy of Science Report:
  Dioxins and Dioxin-Like Compounds in the Food Supply - Strategies to Decrease Exposure
• Open Burning Summary Presentation for NYSAEMC Conference
  October 13, 2006
• American Chemical Society Report: Emissions of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Polychlorinated Dibenzofurans from the Open Burning of Household Waste in Barrels
  (Note:  This report determined that the level of dioxins released from a few burn barrels are equivalent to the level of dioxins released from a 200-ton-per-day municipal solid waste incinerator.)
• Open Burning Awareness Campaign Materials Available from the St. Lawrence County Planning Office
  
  

 Other Open Burning Websites

Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention (Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy)
Great Lakes Trash and Open Burning Website

Burnbarrel.org
Maintained by Chris Neurath, a resident of St. Lawrence County

Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources

USEPA Draft Dioxin Reassessment

EcoSuperior Environmental Programs

Cancer Action