Owner of wood boilers near Woodriver School gets nuisance citation

 

FAIRBANKS — The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation issued a nuisance abatement order to the owner of two outdoor wood boilers across the street from Woodriver Elementary School on Thursday.

 

The boilers, which were installed in 2008, have been blamed for polluting the air around and inside the school. The Fairbanks North Star Borough recently installed a new ventilation system at Woodriver specifically to filter out particulate matter produced by wood smoke. The boilers have sparked an outcry among parents, teachers and other residents and have become a central theme of a heated debate over air quality regulation. 

 

This is the second citation the state has issued for a home heating device in Fairbanks. The first went to an outdoor coal-fired boiler in January. 

 

The abatement order states the owner must discontinue the nuisance, said Moses Coss, DEC supervisor in Fairbanks. 

 

If that doesn’t happen, the owner could potentially face a civil suit, criminal suit or a fine, he said. 

 

“It could result in the conviction of a Class A misdemeanor,” Coss said. 

 

The department always prefers to resolve these cases without enforcement, he said. 

 

This is the first enforcement action taken against the owner.

 

Woodriver Principal Jeffrey Mann said he has seen DEC officials observing and sampling at the school over the past few days.

 

The pollution has been especially noticeable this week, he said, because of weather and greater visibility. 

 

“In March, there’s more light and we’re dealing with cold-weather inversions,” he said. “When these burners are burning, it becomes so visibly apparent how dirty our air is. We’re asking our kids and schoolteachers to work and play in that kind of environment.”

 

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Owner of wood boilers near Woodriver School gets nuisance citation