Oregon Bills Would Snuff Out Field Burning

The hearings for two bills that would eliminate field burning are scheduled for this week.

Photo taken from Interstate 5 between Eugene and Corvallis by Brizz Meddings on August 27, 2008

(SALEM, Ore.) - A prior state legislator says he is concerned over two bills that would put a halt to field burning in Oregon.

Former Oregon Senator Roger Beyer of Molalla is now the Executive Director of the Oregon Seed Council. His agency sent out an alert Monday night advising that anyone interested in this proposed legislation should plan to be at the state Capitol in Salem Wednesday and Thursday afternoon of this week.

Beyer, who resigned from the Oregon Senate on January 18th 2008, after serving in the state legislature since 1997, heads a group that has a deep interest in the Oregon farmer's continuing ability to burn fields, which many agriculturists say amounts to a sterilization process for the earth.

Wikipedia states, "Often called field burning, this technique is used to clear the land of any existing crop residue as well as kill weeds and weed seeds. Field burning is less expensive than most other methods such as herbicides or tillage but because it does produce smoke and other fire related pollutants, its use is not popular in agricultural areas bounded by residential housing."

Oregonians have never forgotten the fatal freeway pileup on I-5 that was caused by large amounts of drifting smoke from a burning farm field.

The Corvallis Gazette Times reports that it was August 3rd 1988, when a burning farm field jumped out of control, crossed a firebreak, and started, "a fast-moving blaze in an unharvested field. Black smoke billowed across Interstate 5 south of Albany. When it had cleared, seven people were dead and 38 injured in a fiery 23-vehicle pile-up." (see: Gazette Times Editorial: Look at cold facts on field burning's benefits)

This is a sore subject with many Oregonians over the fatalities, and virtually every Oregon farmer I have attempted to discuss the matter with, has chosen to decline.

In fact many farmers claim that the "media" is responsible for the ill will that rose from the tragic occurrence and the politically shaky ground that the event left field burning treading lightly over. Maybe this is true, I'm not sure, but I know I had nothing to do with it. Even the Department of Agriculture couldn't find a farmer who would go on camera when I worked for KATU Channel-2 News, and talk about it. I honestly to this day would like to hear someone talk about why it is an important practice in this state, on a personal level.

According to the Oregon Seed Council Website, many steps are already being taken to ensure the safety of field burning.

A Smoke Management Committee exists that "is made up of grass seed growers, rural fire district permit agents, representatives of the State of Oregon Fire Marshall’s office, and the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s, Natural Resources Division."

They state that the Committee works directly with people in field burning smoke management, "to ensure that the summer burning season goes as smoothly as possible."

A smooth season means minimal smoke impacts on people, avoiding direct impact on Oregon communities, and prohibiting burning when it will have an impact on visibility in any of the wilderness areas or other federal Class 1 areas in the state.

The Committee, which meets every two weeks during the summer to review progress and problems, reports the following statistics: "Since 1991 open field burning has been reduced from 250,000 acres legally permitted to 65,000 acres legally permitted. The average number of acres burned in each of the past three years has been approximately 50,000 acres."

Roger Beyer said, "Having the rooms filled with farmers will show legislators that any attempt to regulate farm practices will be opposed."

In addressing Oregon farmers who Beyer hopes will attend the hearings this week, he said, "Legislators attempting to ban any agricultural practice must get the message that you as farmers are the best to decide which agricultural practices work best."

Health Concerns

The Western Environmental Law Center is one of the agencies pushing hard for a total ban on field burning. It is a fact that Oregon is one of the few remaining places where field burning is allowed to happen. The group says field burning results in health problems.

The group states on their Website, that for decades, "Oregonians have suffered health effects from the field burning of grass residues in the Willamette Valley."

They say that due to the location and the prevailing winds, the smoke from field burning actually envelops the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area and surrounding smaller communities.

The environmental advocacy group says this causes respiratory problems and obscures visibility.

"Already, the prevalence of asthma in Oregon is considerably higher than the U.S. average and continues to rise," the group stated.

Inhaling smoke very close to a burning field obviously would not be good for a person, but a study at Washington State University, according to an article by Tina Hilding with Washington State magazine, revealed that patients who suffer from asthma probably aren't affected by farm field burning.

The report indicates that a study conducted by Washington State University and University of Washington, showed no statistical increase in asthmatics' health problems over the course of multiple field burning events in 2002.

"The researchers noted that the results of the study should be viewed with caution. While it found no significant health effect from the field burning, neither did the study answer the question of why that might be. Perhaps recent burning has been more carefully controlled than in past years. Peak exposures were lower in 2002 than in the two previous years, the researchers said."

The 2002 study examined exposure levels in 33 asthmatic adults to atmospheric pollutants from field burning in the Palouse region of Washington, according to Hilding. It wasn't a glowing testimony by any means, but it appears to give more weight back to the Oregon farmers.

The hearing on HB-2183 is Wednesday March 11th, at 3:00 p.m. in hearing room D; and the hearing on SB-528 is Thursday March 12th, at 3:00 p.m. in hearing room C.

You can see the text of the measures here:

House Bill 2183

Senate Bill 528