Home Contra Costa County BAAQMD Issued 21 Violations Last Winter in Contra Costa County

BAAQMD Issued 21 Violations Last Winter in Contra Costa County

by ECT

WSTA web graphic

With 11-straight Winter Spare the Air Alerts, our readers began asking the question if the Bay Area Air Quality Management District even enforces its own rules. It turns out they do with fines ranging from $100 to $500+ depending on the offence.

According to Ralph Borrmann, Public Information Officer, last year in Contra Costa County the District received a total of 371 complaints during the winter months (Nov. 2012 to Jan 2013) when they had 10 Winter Spare the Air Alerts.

Of the 371 complaints in Contra Costa County, the District issued 21 violations upon completion of an investigation. San Francisco Bay Area wide, the District received 2,316 complaints and issued 178 violations during the same period last year.

So far during this winter, a total of 15-alerts have been issued including 11-straight.

Borrmann further explained the process of how they investigate which begins with targeting high areas of complaints.  They do not go to a direct address, but instead go to an area to do proactive enforcement—they use the number of complaints on a given day as a guide to target wood burning.

“Once an inspector gets to a site and someone is burning on a no-burn day, they have to witness, record and they never knock on the door,” says Borrmann. “They then go back to office and look to see if there is an exemption on file and who is the owner to see who to send it to.”

He explained that there is some back and forth with the owner of a home—such as a heater could be broken and would need a copy of a receipt. Often times, an investigation could take several months to investigate—it’s not as simple as showing up and issuing a violation.

Fines for a first offense will be $100 or one can take a “smoke class”. On a second offense, it could be $500 or more for repeat violators.

When asked if they work the fire departments on Spare the Air day to collect incident reports on violators, Borrmann stated fire departments are there for public safety, not enforcement.

According to Borrmann, a staff works with an Air Pollution Control Officer who uses data to factor into the decision which then an Air District Meteorologist will make a recommendation to the executive director on a Spare the Air Alert. The executive director will typically make the final decision based off the staff recommendation and data on whether or not to issue an alert.

For more information on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, visit their website.

For more information on Winter Spare the Air Alerts, visit Spare the Air – Winter.

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1 comment

dan Dec 23, 2013 - 6:08 pm

I just called to inquire what would happen if I burned tomorrow. A guy I talked to by the name of David Garrison claimed and I quote, ” the last guy that asked a bunch of questions” ( I was asking questions about the validity of the science behind it when CPK, refineries, etc. can continue to burn) “ended up a year in Bryant street and five years of probation”.

Basically, you can’t ask questions challenging them or they throw you in jail.

How is this not like Nazi Germany again for all you STA supporters?

If you don’t believe me call and ask for David Garrison and see for yourself.

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