DEQ needing businesses for logging debris reduction program
Photo by JOSIE YORK Smoke rises from a slash pile near Pinehurst in late 2019. This particulate matter emitted from piles like these can degrade the air quality in the West Silver Valley Airshed, which includes communities from Cataldo to Big Creek.
KELLOGG — In an effort to reduce emissions from slash burning in the West Silver Valley nonattainment area, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is looking for more businesses to be a part of its logging debris reduction program.
Funded through the Environmental Protection Agency airshed grant that was awarded to the DEQ in 2016, DEQ Airshed Coordinator Ralph Paul is hoping a financial incentive for businesses is just what is needed to get more on board.
“We had an idea in the grant that we would pay $34 a ton if someone wanted to pull slash out and find a use for it (without burning it),” he said.
Under the logging debris reduction program, DEQ will fund the cost of removing debris between 2 to 8 inches in diameter from local logging sites. DEQ will provide up to $34 per ton to any business that accepts the logging debris and repurposes the material. The end product(s) must result in a net reduction of particulate emissions.
Currently, the DEQ has only one company in Montana that has signed up so far. This company plans to make erosion socks with the discarded timber for government management projects. These socks are used to manage land erosion by allowing water to flow through it while trapping sediment. These socks can be seen in use right now in Government Gulch near Kellogg.
Paul said that the slash can also be chopped up and used as either mulch or dried to be used as firewood. As long as it isn’t burned wet, that is a win for the DEQ.
“Burning slash puts out a lot of smoke,” Paul explained. “We’ve been cleaning it up by replacing the wood stoves and it really seems to be making a difference. We want to continue that momentum and lower emissions even more.”
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the West Silver Valley area as nonattainment for particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), meaning the area’s emissions violated federal health-based standards.
Reducing PM2.5 emissions from slash burn piles is one of several efforts underway to help the West Silver Valley community improve air quality and meet federal requirements.
Funds from the EPA grant have also been responsible for the successful woodstove changeout program.
The logging debris reduction program aims to prevent 3,040 tons of unused logging waste from being burned in slash piles. Funding for the program will be available until late-December 2021.
For more information, contact the Kellogg DEQ office at 208-783-5781 or visit the West Silver Valley Air Quality Improvement Projects page on its website.