A Burning Question

Fall is burning season in the wheat fields of eastern Washington State. To prepare for planting in 1998, farmers burned about 229,000 acres of wheat stubble, an increase over recent years. Although a tighter state permitting system substantially reduced the acreage burned in 1999, dean air activitists are concerned that the state has not tightened up enough. The fires are used to help control crop diseases and to clear fields before using a relatively new farming technique called minimum tillage, which reduces soil erosion but requires machinery that can get dogged by heavy stubble. Nationally, fires are also used to clear stubble from grass seed fields in Idaho, rice fields in California, and sugarcane fields in Florida. In eastern Washington, grass growers stopped burning their fields in 1998 in accordance with an agreement with the state's Department of Ecology, which regulates agricultural burning in Washington. But the emphasis on minimum tillage, among other factors, has caused a larger number of wheat fires to take grass's place. Burning is a major source of air pollution in Spokane and surrounding areas. "It's a unique pollution, different from auto exhaust," says Patricia Hoffman, a veterinarian who heads Save Our Summers, a citizens group that opposes agricultural burning. "It's a high-concentration , high-intensity exposure for a short period. It's very dangerous for people with asthma or heart or lung problems." Of Spokane County's approximately 500,000 residents, she says, about 40,000 have asthma and 3,000 have emphysema. These asthma rates are around twice the national average. Timothy Krautkraemer, age 10, is a Spokane asthma patient who stays indoors during the burning season. "He can't participate in activities that others participate in," says his father, Jeffrey. "It's pretty rough on a 10-year-old." A hot issue. Farmers argue that agricultural burning is a necessary tool, but neighbors worry that the smoke may lead to health problems such as asthma, particularly in children. The family has joined a federal lawsuit with another family and Save Our Summers against the Washington Department of Ecology. They argue that the burning constitutes discrimination against asthma sufferers, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Michael McCarthy, a Spokane pulmonary pediatric specialist, says he's "totally convinced [the burning is] an extremely important public health problem." McCarthy believes the increased asthma rates are due to the smoke Debating Dursban EPA Reviews Chlorpyrifos Risk U.S. environmental officials say that one of the most widely used pesticides, …