By Lyonel Doherty, Times Chronicle
Although the future of the region’s agricultural wood waste chipping program is uncertain, it will continue for the remainder of the year.
That’s what the regional district board decided last week as it pondered creating a special air quality service.
In a report to the board, public works operations manager Andrew Reeder said the subsidized program relates to landfills at Campbell Mountain, Oliver, and the Area A refuse function.
The idea is to promote chipping as opposed to outdoor burning to enhance air quality in the region.
Reeder pointed out the options, including discontinuing the service, creating an air quality function, or providing a new monetary incentive for chipping.
Area C director Rick Knodel said the program is running into a lot of stumbling blocks.
“I am not sorry to see it going. It is one of the programs that hid behind the veil of being environmentally friendly but in reality it had problems.”
Knodel said the trees, once chipped, became the problem of the farmer who had to remove them.
“The original thought was to till back into the soil. The farmers who tried that found that the chips robbed nutrients from the soil while breaking down and they had to fertilize extensively to compensate.”
Knodel said if farmers tried to compost the chip pile it took years; they had to add chemicals or manure to expedite the breakdown process.
Knodel has been promoting air curtain trench burning as a better method of dealing with agricultural wood waste.
While it will release some CO2 it is minimal and less than the methane and other gasses from composting, he said.
“The air curtain system all but totally eliminates the smoke particles also.
Unfortunately, there is only one none-mobile air curtain burner in the area and it is booked solid now. We really need an air curtain trench burner that is mobile.”
Reeder said he will come back to the board with a report identifying the options in more detail.
