‘Junk science’: Air quality debate draws controversy at assembly meeting

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly vote on Resolution 19-032 on Tuesday was more than two years in the making. The new ordinance establishes fines for property owners burning outdoors on bad air days. After an education campaign, a town hall, two presentations for the Planning Commission and amendments to define, postpone, and increase, the ordinance passed with Jesse Sumner, Ted Leonard, and George McKee opposed to the ordinance.

“There was a man that lived right next to the, he admitted to everybody that yes, the problem was me. I was burning a brush pile that smoke blew right through the monitor. That’s the science that Jim Sykes is bringing forward. That is garbage, absolute garbage,” Mark Johnson said.

Members of the public hotly contested the measurements of Particulate Matter [P.M.] 2.5 levels that have been slowly decreasing in recent years, but were dangerously close to new EPA standards.

“I see this as just another attempt to bring government regulation into our community.

I’ve heard the word foolishness, no, I think there’s an agenda here that I don’t know about. I think there is some other reason why this is going in,” Mat-Su Borough School Board Member Tom Bergey said.

[Read more comment from citizens in a related article on Frontiersman.com]

P.M. 2.5 has been attributed to increased pollution hanging low in the air when dense cold air gets trapped under less dense warm air. On days when the air quality monitor in Butte reaches elevated levels of 2.5, the monitor in Palmer has not, isolating the problem to the unique geographic conditions in Butte. The ordinance would establish fines for those caught burning outside, but does not regulate wood stoves. Sykes offered a secondary amendment to the ordinance that strictly prohibited regulation of wood stoves.

“When the information goes out there on social media and the facts are not challenged or checked, it sort of becomes like it’s the truth and it’s not the truth. That’s why I’m putting it in the ordinance, to make it very clear,” Sykes said. “I understand that the people don’t trust government. There’s no hidden agenda. It’s been totally transparent and if people have any better solutions I’m all ears. That’s how we solve stuff, but the only solution I’ve heard is don’t do anything.”

Sykes’ amendment to add the wood stove specification passed, but not without opposition.

“Whatever you put into this ordinance to try to justify it can be taken out at any point in time by another assembly. So just to try to put dressing in essence onto this amendment, this ordinance, is not right,” Ted Leonard said.

Leonard clarified to say that he was not voting against protecting wood stoves, but opposed the ordinance in totality. Sykes’ second amendment was to reduce the fines for violations from $150 for a first offense, $300 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense to $30, $70 and $150. Sumner was opposed to the amendment, but then moved to increase the fines tenfold. Sumner argued that fines would hurt homeowners and would not stop developers from paying the fine to burn on bad air days.

“Assembly member Sumner did you want to make your developers amendment for a thousand dollar fine? I’m just kidding. I’m just having a little fun. Oh you do? Go ahead,” Mayor Vern Halter said.

Sumner felt that fines should carry an impact if there were to be fines at all.

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job over the last two years of educating the people of the Butte not to burn on inversion days and the data from the monitor has shown vast improvement,” Sumner said. “So why have fines at all, and if you’re going to have fines make them effective?”

While members of the public were quick to mention citizen backlash to wood stove regulation in Fairbanks, Sykes’ turned that argument to support the ordinance. Fairbanks has been in a state of non-attainment for 30 years, incurring $8.5 million in fees from taxpayers. Sykes mentioned citizens of Juneau who had a very similar situation as in Butte and wanted to specify a region in the Mendenhall Valley affected by Gastineau Channel winds, but were handed down DEC enforcements to the entire Borough.

“There is also a perception that all we want to do is raise money. The fact of the matter is, this whole thing is done with essentially no cost because we already do air alerts and we already have an enforcement division,” Sykes said.

In the January informational meeting held at Butte Elementary, DEC staff stated that the likelihood of transportation funds being withheld due to the Mat-Su Borough entering non attainment was unlikely, however possible. After the change in EPA standards, the borough has a three-year average nearing non attainment, but air quality recorded from the monitor in Butte has been improving. Sumner argued that the economic impact of fines would be more detrimental than the health impacts of poor air quality.

“The economic cost that you are putting on residents in the Butte could easily overcome that life expectancy increase and cause a decrease. If you are taking people and you are putting them into a lower economic bracket with either fines or imposing extra costs on them then you are killing people,” Sumner said.

The American Lung Association representative that attended the meeting at Butte Elementary was accosted for presenting information on the health impacts of poor air quality on residents with respiratory conditions. Assemblyman Dan Mayfield admitted that he did not know whether or not to believe the science. Sumner noted that even though Fairbanks has the poorest air quality in the nation, their life expectancy is higher than residents in the Mat-Su.

“It is junk science,” McKee said. “Ronald Reagan said if the government says I’m here to help you, you’d better run. Well that’s what we’re doing here. What we have is a solution in search of a problem.”

Halter told the assembled crowd to knock it off when cheers erupted for Mayfield, who was the crowd favorite with many of his comments opposing the ordinance. Assistant Borough Attorney Trina Sears shed some light on the question of whether or not the amendment that specified that the Borough could not regulate wood stoves could then be superseded by the federal or state government should the borough enter a state of non attainment.

“The state would be the ones to decide what the plan entails in consultation with the borough,” Sears said. “The state could come in and regulate wood stoves, correct.”

One of the most common suggestions was to propose the ordinance as a ballot measure to residents of the Butte. Deputy Mayor Matthew Beck posed the question to the attorney, who clarified that it was possible, but rather tricky. McKee suggested that air quality monitors were added throughout the borough to regulate other areas as well.

“I think that this is just insane and really if you were going to propose such a thing it should be the Butte residents that decide,” Sumner said.

Sumner and Sykes did agree on one thing. Sykes moved to postpone the ordinance until June 18 for further discussion, and was joined by McKee and Sumner in voting for the amendment, which ultimately passed.

“Where we have the chance of beating, the whole point is to make sure to keep the federal and state government from enforcing laws on us,” Sykes said. “It is your freedom that is at stake because if you think that letting the federal gov and the state government deal with, this they aren’t the experts in the locality here, it’s us.”

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.