PERTH - Town officials will look to review a possible seasonal ban on wood-burning boilers before next month's meeting.
Supervisor Greg Fagan provided the Town Board with a packet of information regarding the controversial heaters.
The packet included information from the Environmental Protection Agency on the boilers, testing results that have been done on them and information from the state on what the boilers can do.
He said the board would discuss how far wood boilers should be set back from buildings.
Several town residents have called for a summer ban on the boilers, saying the smoke that comes from them has an awful smell and can trigger health problems.
Others have called for a total ban on them. But many who own wood boilers say they save them a lot of money on their heating bills.
The state has published material warning against the use of wood boilers. A 2008 report from the state Attorney General's Environmental Protection Bureau office said "outdoor wood boilers produce thick, acrid, foul smoke that permeates buildings and homes, causing not only a nuisance, but also environmental degradation and health problems."
That same report said wood boilers have four times the emissions of conventional wood stoves at 72 grams per hour, as opposed to 18 grams per hour.
After Town Board members review all the information regarding the boilers, Fagan said the board may be ready to make a judgment on what it should do with the boilers.
"If everyone can get through this in the next month, we can be entering into some real serious discussions about what we want to do here," Fagan said.
There is no statewide ban on wood boilers, but the state Department of Environmental Conservation's regulatory agenda, which lists laws that could be proposed for adoption during this calendar year, contains a regulation that would restrict outdoor wood-boiler use.
Several local municipalities, including the town of Mayfield and Dolgeville, already have enacted seasonal bans on the heaters. The Gloversville Common Council deadlocked on a vote last month to restrict their use, and Fort Johnson has enacted a six-month moratorium on the devices while its leaders decide what actions to take.
Fagan, who heats his own home with a wood boiler, has said the board likely would go along with a seasonal ban if the law were crafted in an agreeable fashion.
Zach Subar covers rural Fulton County news. He can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.
