Recreational Fires Must Be Eliminated

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WELCOME TO HELL ON EARTH

The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, almost every evening. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.

WARNING: If you buy a house in North St. Paul, MN, you will regret it! It may be the biggest, most expensive mistake you ever make. You will breathe smoky air almost every day of your life in this town. This is not an exaggeration. The wood smoke in this town gets heavy and gets heavy often. When you want to get out of this dump of a town, how many people do you think are going to want to buy a house in a city where heavy air pollution every night is normal and clean air is rare? This blog gets thousands of visitors every year. The word is out: North St. Paul is a horrible place to live!

Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day. North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live because of the smoky air!

Burning wood, grass, leaves, paper, cardboard, and sometimes plastic, construction materials, and chemicals, if it is combustible it gets burned in North St. Paul and you are going to breathe it.

The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.

Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.

Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?

Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this wood smoke problem. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.

Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.

You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.

If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.

Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.

North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again. But that is not going to happen any time soon.

Tell others about this blog!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Friday 10/30/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. It drizzled rain until around 8 AM then drizzled again around 3 PM. It was around 52 degrees at 8 AM. It was in the 50s today. I forgot to record the evening temperature.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Thursday 10/29/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. Drizzling rain all day and all night long. 51 degrees at 5 PM. People can't burn leaves when it's raining.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Wednesday 10/28/2009 Air Pollution

4:00 PM: Faint to light smoke from burning leaves. It's fall. People burn leaves. People burn stuff all year round in this city. If it's combustible, someone will burn it.

9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. I dozed off early this evening and woke up around this time before heading to bed.

Midnight: No wood smoke. Air is fresh. I forgot to record the temperature earlier, so I did it now. It is 50 degrees at this time. It is a nice evening. Back to bed.

I'm going to document the air pollution in this city until the end of the month then I'm going on hiatus until April. I've documented the smoky air in North St. Paul every day from May through October. I started about half way through April. It has been a miserable smoky year. If history is a guide, 2010 will be smokier than 2009 unless it rains a lot.

Tuesday 10/27/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. We enjoyed fresh air.

The temperature was 52 degrees at 6:00 PM. No rain noted.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Monday 10/26/2009 Air Pollution

Nothing says welcome home like the stench of burning yard waste.

4:35 PM: Light to moderate leaf smoke. Someone to the west is burning leaves. I cannot see the smoke. As strong as the smoke is, it has to be someone close by, within a block. It's Fall. Leaves are falling. Some of us put them in composting containers to be hauled away. Some mulch them with lawn mowers. Others burn them. The leaf smoke did not last more than 5 minutes. I do not know what time it started as I was not around to check the air. 48 degrees and sunny at this time.

5:00 PM: Air is mostly clear. It isn't fresh, but it does not smell smoky.

6:00 PM: Air is mostly clear.

6:30 PM: Air is mostly clear.

7:15 PM: No wood smoke. Air is clear.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:35 PM: Very faint wood smoke.

10:00 PM: Faint wood smoke. This was the last check of the evening.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sunday 10/25/2009 Air Pollution

We are not going to have an Indian Summer this year. Not in October. We haven't had a real Fall. The dismal weather is a mixed blessing. While we don't have the opportunity to spend time outside, we don't have as much wood smoke as we would if the temperatures hit the 70s. But we've still got wood smoke in North St. Paul, as always.

4:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time. This was my first check of the day. Cloudy, 46 degrees. It was raining lightly this morning when I got the paper. No rain now.

6:30 PM: Light wood smoke.

8:15 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke remains. 47 degrees at North High School with a light rain mist at this time.

9:00 PM: Light wood smoke. Going to bed now.

11:30 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke remains.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Saturday 10/24/2009 Air Pollution

It's a polluted hell of a day in North Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is a normal day. What wouldn't be normal is if there wasn't smoke from burning wood or yard waste.

3:00 PM: Faint leaf smoke. Someone in the distance is burning leaves. I did not check before this. 50 degrees at this time, cloudy, no rain.

3:30 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.

4:00 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.

4:30 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.

5:45 PM: I found two leaf burners within a half block of each other as I was driving south on Helen heading back into town. From Lydia & Helen all the way into town I could smell burning leaves. Leaf smoke is all over. Both of the burners I saw were actively burning leaves at this time. Both live within a block of city council member Jan Walczak. Do you think she cares if her neighbors are illegally burning yard waste? No, she doesn't. That demonstrates how good of a city council member she is.



Leaf burner 1: The house on the northwest corner of Helen & Navajo was burning leaves in the backyard. It isn't really a backyard, it is more of a gully. The burning was taking place in the backyard and was not easy to see from the road. I have reported in the past that someone at this area burns grass regularly, usually on Tuesdays after 4 PM. It could possibly be this house. I know there is another grass burner three or four houses north on the opposite side of the street who likes to burn grass in the morning hours during the week. It looks like this leaf burner blew all of his leaves from his front yard out into the street as there is a pile next to the curb. This is also illegal. You can't blow your leaves into the street because it clogs drainage sewers.

Leaf burner 2: A house on Longview. I turned the corner at Navajo and immediately spotted a large cloud of smoke rising from this guy's backyard. It was leaf smoke. I went around the block to verify the home address. This guy burns wood four to five times a week all spring and summer long. He disposes of yard waste regularly, too, and has been doing so for years. Last summer I smelled grass smoke after midnight. I tracked the odor right to that house. Can you imagine living next door to this guy? There is something not right about someone who burns yard waste late at night. Or someone who has to burn wood five times a week. If the wind is right, we catch this guy's wood smoke, yard waste smoke, and other stuff he burns. You can smell his burning a quarter-mile away and likely further than that.

5:45 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues.

6:30 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues. 50 degrees and cloudy at this time.

Soon the wood smoke will start. We've had 3.5 hours of leaf smoke already. Then we get to look forward to wood smoke all night long.

Does this city sound like a good place to live to you?

7:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It is really smoky outside. Being outside for a few minutes will leave your clothes smelling like wood smoke like you spent hours in a smoky bar.

8:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues. I can slightly taste the smoke in the air. North St. Paul, the home of flavorful air.

9:00 PM: Light wood smoke. The wood smoke decreased in intensity.

10:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.

11:00 PM: No real wood smoke. There is a very faint trace of something in the air. It is probably wood smoke, but I can't say it is.

Midnight: No wood smoke. Fresh air!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Friday 10/23/2009 Air Pollution

If you like smoky air, we have got it for you.

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. 40 degrees at this time with rain. It rained all day and we had some snow that stuck to the ground in the early afternoon.

7:15 PM: Faint wood smoke on the wind. Still raining at this time. 38 degrees. A little windy.

8:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

10:00 PM: Light wood smoke. I am angry because I wanted to step outside to get a breath of fresh air and open the window to let some odor of onions from hamburgers out. We had takeout for dinner this evening. I just ate some leftovers.

11:15 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

Midnight: No real wood smoke. Somebody's fireplace burned out or the wind shifted direction and is no longer bringing wood smoke to us. I stepped outside to get a deep breath of cool, fresh air. I opened a window to get a little fresh air in here for a few minutes.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Thursday 10/22/2009 Air Pollution

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. 43 degrees, cloudy, no rain.

9:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. 40 degrees at this time measured at North High School.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke.

Midnight: No wood smoke.

An evening without wood smoke.

Wednesday 10/21/2009 Air Pollution

4:30 PM: No wood smoke. Drizzling rain, 45 degrees.

6:30 PM: No wood smoke.

8:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke.

There was no more wood smoke up until I went to bed. It drizzled most of the day and into the evening.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Tuesday 10/20/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. It was 50 degrees and misting rain at 5:30 PM. It misted or drizzled most of the evening.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Monday 10/19/2009 Air Pollution

It's smoky outside.

5:15 PM: No wood smoke. 55 degrees, sunny at this time. It was sunny this morning then cloudy this afternoon.

7:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke. I opened the window to attempt to rid the house of dinner odors when I noticed wood smoke. Chicken and potatoes smell more pleasant than burning wood. I'll keep the windows closed.

8:30 PM: Light wood smoke. 49 degrees at this time.

11:30 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

Sunday 10/18/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke where we are this evening. It was 62 degrees at 5:00 PM. A nice Fall day like we would expect if not for the stretch of cold the past couple weeks. As of 10:30 PM, there still was not a trace of that horrible air pollution. I went for a walk this evening down by the lake around sunset. It was very smoky along the southern edge of Silver Lake. Terrible stinky wood smoke. There were other people out walking. We all get to breathe smoky air because one person couldn't make it through the evening without using a fireplace. While they are warm and cozy in front of the flickering flames, all of us walking outside get to breathe wood smoke pollution. I saw a bonfire in Maplewood. I couldn't believe it. A house on Beam on the Maplewood side of the street west of Chippewa had a roaring fire in their backyard. What is the obsession with burning wood? It was never like this ten years ago.

Saturday 10/17/2009 Air Pollution

It's another smoky Fall evening.

7:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. 48 degrees at this time. It was sunny earlier today.

9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.

10:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.

This was movie night. Is it too much to ask to be able to step outside and catch a breath of fresh air every couple of hours? It is in this town.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Friday 10/16/2009 Air Pollution

Wood smoke made a return. The temperature today was about as cool as it was earlier in the week when we were absent of wood smoke. Why is the air smoky on a Friday but not earlier? Are fireplaces being used for home heating or for recreation and mood setting?

I think fireplaces are being used for recreation more than home heating.

5:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. 45 degrees, drizzling rain at this hour.

6:00 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

8:15 PM: Light to moderate stinky wood smoke. The wood smoke smells horrible. It smells like an animal carcass is being burned with wood. Icky foul air!

9:00 PM: Light to moderate stinky wood smoke continues. It stinks awful.

10:45 PM: Light stinky wood smoke. This was the last check of the evening.

Thursday 10/15/2009 Air Pollution

No wood smoke this evening. It rained in the morning then we had some snow later in the morning. It rained some more and rained during the evening. The temperature was 38 degrees at 4 PM. Absent of wood smoke.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Wednesday 10/14/2009 Air Pollution

Another evening without wood smoke. It is cold, 42 degrees, and cloudy again. There were some rain sprinkles around 6:30 PM and later in the night it was raining. I love being able to step outside to get a breath of fresh air. If the temperatures were in the 70s, this wouldn't be possible. The air would be filled with wood smoke pollution.

Tuesday 10/13/2009 Air Pollution

No wood smoke this evening. It is cold, cloudy, with a temperature in the upper 30s. Nobody is going to have a bonfire when conditions are like this. I am surprised at the lack of wood smoke since the weather turned unseasonably cold. If there was a time you would expect people to use fireplaces for home heating, this is it. I am beginning to believe that people don't use fireplaces for home heating as much as they do for recreational or mood setting purposes. Everyone has their furnaces on now, even those with fireplaces and wood burning stoves.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Monday 10/12/2009 Air Pollution

4:00 PM: No wood smoke. Light snow at this time.

It snowed again today. It was snowing when I woke up this morning and snowed all day long. We had about 2 inches of snow in the yard when I left this morning. There is about 2 inches in the yard now. There is none in the driveway or in the streets as it melted. 38 degrees.

There was no wood smoke this evening. Not a trace of that foul pollution.

Sunday 10/11/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. I did not notice any burning yard waste when I stuck my head out the door during the day. I believe the high temperature was in the 40s. I did not write it down and do not remember it. It was another cool day.

Saturday 10/10/2009 Air Pollution

12:30 AM: No wood smoke. The stinky smoke from 11 PM is gone.

2:30 AM: No wood smoke. Windy, light snow falling at this time. This is the first snow for the season. It was enough to coat the grass. It melted later in the day. 28 degrees at this time.

There was no wood smoke this evening. The evening temperature was around 38 degrees. This is October? It seems more like November or December. Winter is making an early appearance in these parts. I do not like it.

What would I prefer? Nice warm temperatures and smoky air or unseasonably cold weather and fresh air? I'll take the cold and fresh air. I can stand outside and get a breath of fresh air if I need to. I could not do that if the evening temperature was 70 degrees. The air would be heavy with smoke.

Friday 10/09/2009 Air Pollution

4:15 PM: Light smoke from burning leaves. Asshole nearby is burning yard waste. It did not last more than 15 minutes. 46 degrees at this time.

7:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke at this time.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke.

11:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time varying with the wind. The smoke smells horrible! I don't know what is burning, but it stinks. All the windows are closed around the house and have been for over a week now. The heat is on.

Thursday 10/08/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke at all this evening. Another cool day. I wrote in a temperature of 44 degrees, that may have been the morning temperature. It did not get very warm.

Wednesday 10/07/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. The high was around 50 degrees. No rain.

Tuesday 10/06/2009 Air Pollution

8:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. 45 degrees at this time. Rained on and off all day. The high today reached the 60s (that is what I wrote in my notepad).

11:00 PM: Still no wood smoke. This was the last check of the evening.

Monday 10/05/2009 Air Pollution

2:00 AM: Very faint trace of wood smoke in the air.

5:00 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke in the air.

7:00 PM: Faint wood smoke. It rained earlier and is raining at this time. Must be a fireplace. 49 degrees.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke. Very faint trace of something is in the air. I can't say it is wood smoke.

11:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke at this time.

Sunday 10/04/2009 Air Pollution

3:00 PM: Faint wood smoke. I wanted to open the window to let a little fresh air in. Can't. The air is smoky. It is cool outside. Probably from a fireplace. Cloudy, about 50 degrees at this time.

4:35 PM: Very faint wood smoke.

7:30 PM: Light wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke.

11:00 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke at this time.

At 2 AM a very faint trace of wood smoke remained.

Saturday 10/03/2009 Air Pollution

I have not been updating lately. The weather has not been very good. Not fall-like at all.

3:45 PM: Faint intermittent wood smoke on the breeze. Cloudy, rained this morning and will likely rain again. 50 degrees. Must be a fireplace.

4:15 PM: Faint wood smoke.

6:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:40 PM: Light wood smoke. Breezy. Must be a fireplace.

11:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It has gotten smokier outside.

11:30 PM: Faint wood smoke. This was the last check of the evening.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

September and May wood smoke tabulation completed

I complete the wood smoke tabulation for months September and June. Please click the link following to view it.

Wood Smoke Numbers By Month

Friday, October 2, 2009

Friday 10/02/2009 Air Pollution

7:00 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air. 47 degrees at this time. Cloudy, no rain. It rained intermittently all day. It was drizzling at 5 PM.

7:30 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It's smoky out there The wind is blowing west behind the houses. I stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. There is no fresh air. Fireplaces will be going this weekend I bet.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke at this time.

There was no more wood smoke this evening. It drizzled intermittently throughout the evening and night.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

North St. Paul wind turbine is up

The wind turbine in North St. Paul has been erected. It is not operational as of yesterday. I saw an article in the Pioneer Press about it and drove by North High School where I saw it. I'll try to get some pictures of it soon. You can see it driving down Highway 36 at 1st St. N. on municipal property. It is sitting about where the old SuperAmerica was before the gas station was torn down for improvements to the highway.

Pioneer Press

It is good that we are getting some renewable clean energy in North St. Paul. It would be even better if we could eliminate wood smoke pollution in this city from April through the end of October. This wind turbine isn't going to offset the pollution created from all the recreational burning in this town.

Thursday 10/01/2009 Air Pollution

4:00 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time for a few minutes. Then it was gone. Must be from a fireplace. 51 degrees, cloudy, and raining at this time. The Weatherbug widget on this blog puts the temp at 46 degrees a few miles away in Mahtomedi. It rained on and off most of the day and will probably rain some more this evening.

There was no more wood smoke this evening. It rained intermittently all night.

Wednesday 09/30/2009 Air Pollution

4:05 PM: Light smoke from burning leaves. I smelled it a block away from home as I was driving in. I could not smell it on our property. 61 degrees, sunny.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke yet.

11:30 PM: No wood smoke. I woke up at this time and checked the air on my way back to bed. 50 degrees at this time.

There was no wood smoke this evening.