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!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Friday 01/29/2010 Air Pollution

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. I was home today. The air was fresh all day long. 8 degrees.

6:08 PM: No wood smoke.

7:11 PM: No wood smoke. Yet.

7:45 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.

11:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke.

Thursday 01/28/2010 Air Pollution

4:35 PM: No wood smoke. 6 degrees.

6:00 PM: No wood smoke. 3 degrees.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:00 PM: A faint something is in the air. It could be smoke from a distant fireplace user. But I really can't say for certain that it is.

10:30 PM: No wood smoke.

Midnight: No wood smoke.

This was a rare evening with no real wood smoke.

Wednesday 01/27/2010 Air Pollution

6:15 PM: An extremely faint smokiness is in the air. 7 degrees and windy at this time.

8:45 PM: No wood smoke.

10:45 PM: No wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

There was nothing more than the slightest trace of wood smoke this evening.

Tuesday 01/26/2010 Air Pollution

1:00 AM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. I can hardly smell it except enough to tell it is present.

6:25 PM: No wood smoke yet this evening. A frigid 6 degrees at this time.

9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. As I determined it was smoky this evening, I went to bed at this time.

Monday 01/25/2010 Air Pollution

5:15 PM: No wood smoke. 19 degrees..

6:30 PM: No wood smoke. Windy.

7:30 PM: There is a faint smokiness in the air at this time.

10:30 PM: No wood smoke. There was a faint trace of wood smoke in the air after midnight.

Sunday 01/24/2010 Air Pollution

3:00 AM: A faint smokiness lingers in the air.

2:15 PM: No wood smoke now. No wood smoke all morning other than very early. Light drizzle at this time. 35 degrees.

4:00 PM: No wood smoke. Light sleet and snow, 33 degrees.

5:15 PM: No wood smoke. Drizzling rain.

6:35 PM: No wood smoke.

7:20 PM: No wood smoke.

8:30 PM: No wood smoke.

9:30 PM: No wood smoke.

10:20 PM: No real wood smoke. There is a faint something in the air. I cannot determine what it is. It could be wood smoke from a distant fireplace user. Last check of the evening.

This was the evening of the big Minnesota Vikings divisional championship game. People could have been too busy watching the game to pollute the air.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Saturday 01/23/2010 Air Pollution

7:00 AM: No wood smoke. Fresh air.

10:00 AM: No wood smoke.

12:00 PM: No wood smoke.

3:00 PM: No wood smoke. 38 degrees measured at North High School.

If people use fireplaces to heat their homes, how come we have very little wood smoke in the morning and early afternoon hours? Even in the winter, fireplace use occurs mainly in the evening. The use has to be recreational and not for home heating.

5:30 PM: Light wood smoke varying with the wind.

8:00 PM: Faint varying wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Light varying wood smoke.

10:30 PM: Light wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

Friday 01/22/2010 Air Pollution

4:30 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air!

7:00 PM: No wood smoke.

10:50 PM: No wood smoke yet.

11:35 PM: Very faint wood smoke is in the air. Probably from a distant fireplace user.

This evening had very little wood smoke pollution.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thursday 01/21/2010 Air Pollution

4:30 PM: No wood smoke. 28 degrees.

6:10 PM: No wood smoke. Wonderful fresh air! Will it last? Will we have a third evening in a row without wood smoke pollution?

We did not have a third evening without wood smoke.

9:22 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The familiar air pollutant is back. Last check of the evening.

Wednesday 01/20/2010 Air Pollution

5:00 AM: Fresh air. It is so nice to wake up and extend my head out the back door and take a deep breath of fresh air. We don't have a lot of fresh air in North St. Paul, MN. We have to enjoy what little we can find.

4:15 PM: No wood smoke. 28 degrees.

6:30 PM: No wood smoke.

11:00 PM: No wood smoke.

This is the second evening without wood smoke.

Tuesday 01/19/2010 Air Pollution

2:45 AM: Light to moderate stinky wood smoke continues to pollute the air in North St. Paul, Minnesota.

4:45 AM: Light wood smoke at this time.

7:00 AM: Faint wood smoke at this time. The air was smoky all night long and half the morning.

4:45 PM: No wood smoke. 21 degrees.

6:30 PM: No wood smoke.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke yet.

11:45 PM: No wood smoke.

It was a smoky morning and a smoke-free evening.

Monday 01/18/2010 Air Pollution

5:40 AM: Faint wood smoke at this early hour.

6:21 AM: Faint to light wood smoke.

1:37 PM: There has been a faint wood smoke in the air all day long.

4:30 PM: A very faint smoke lingers in the air.

5:30 PM: 32 degrees.

7:55 PM: Moderate to strong horrible smelling stinky wood smoke pollutes the air in North St. Paul! It smells awful. You don't want to breathe this toxic air! It does not get this smoky often in the winter. In the summer it gets this smoky. But not in the winter. This could be the smokiest it has been all winter.

10:45 PM: Moderately strong stinky wood smoke continues. That's 3 hours of horrible stinky air!

Sunday 01/17/2010 Air Pollution

5:45 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. You don't want to breathe the air in North St. Paul right now. It's very polluted. 33 degrees.

10:15 PM: Moderate wood smoke. That's 4.5 hours of very smoky polluted air. Last check of the evening.

Saturday 11/16/2010 Air Pollution

7:50 PM: Light strange smelling wood smoke. 32 degrees.

9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke varying with the breeze. The air outside is very smoky. Last check of the evening.

Friday 01/15/2010 Air Pollution

7:30 PM: No wood smoke. 27 degrees.

8:45 PM: No wood smoke.

11:30 PM: Faint something in the air. It does not smell like wood smoke. I don't know what else it could be.

Thursday 01/14/2010 Air Pollution

5:30 PM: Faint smokiness is in the air. Ick.

5:15 PM: Very faint wood smoke varying with the breeze. 30 degrees.

6:00 PM: No wood smoke.

11:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Wednesday 01/13/2010 Air Pollution

Welcome home to the polluted nightmare.

4:10 PM: Faint to light wood smoke in the air varying with the breeze. 31 degrees.

4:45 PM: Light wood smoke.

7:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Very smoky outside.

11:45 PM: The air outside stinks. I'm not sure what it is.

Tuesday 01/12/2010 Air Pollution

The air in the morning was nice and fresh. Fresh air is a rarity in North St. Paul.

6:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:35 PM: Faint wood smoke.

11:40 PM: A faint trace of wood smoke in the air.

I failed to record the temperature this evening. I think it was in the 20s.

Monday 01/11/2010 Air Pollution

2:45 AM: Faint stinky wood smoke and a sulfur smell pollutes the air in North St. Paul. I checked the air quality on my way back to bed.

6:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The air is smoky, as it usually is in this town. 18 degrees. This was the only check of the evening.

Winter 2009 - 2010 is smokier than last year. It still is not nearly as smoky as it is in the summer.

Sunday 01/10/2010 Air Pollution

5:41 PM: Light wood smoke. 15 degrees. There was no wood smoke earlier in the day.

8:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.

10:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air outside is very smoky. Horrible polluted air.

Saturday 01/09/2010 Air Pollution

2:00 AM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It has gotten smokier the past few hours.

1:00 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It was -14 degrees this morning.

4:45 PM: Very faint wood smoke lingers.

9:15 PM: Very faint wood smoke.

10:55 PM: Faint wood smoke.

Friday 01/08/2010 Air Pollution

12:30 AM: Very faint trace of smokiness continues.

7:30 AM: Faint wood smoke.

6:00 PM: Light wood smoke. 13 degrees.

7:15 PM: Faint wood smoke.

9:30 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air.

11:30 PM: Light wood smoke.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Thursday 01/07/2010 Air Pollution

4:15 PM: No wood smoke. Windy, cold, 10 degrees. We got a few inches of snow today.

6:20 PM: No wood smoke.

8:30 PM: Very faint trace of smoke in the air. I can hardly smell it.

10:30 PM: Very faint trace of smokiness continues.

Wednesday 01/06/2010 Air Pollution

7:30 AM: Faint to light wood smoke. -2 degrees.

5:20 PM: No detectable wood smoke. The air is not fresh. It isn't smoky. 13 degrees.

8:45 PM: No wood smoke. 14 degrees.

10:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.

11:00 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Tuesday 01/05/2010 Air Pollution

4:10 PM: Light wood smoke. It is smokiest just outside the back door, less smoky elsewhere in front of the house and in the driveway. 8 degrees, sunny.

6:30 PM: Faint wood smoke and vehicle exhaust or some other type of pollution.

8:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. 4 degrees.

9:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It's very smoky outside. Last check of the evening.

Monday 01/04/2010 Air Pollution

7:30 AM: Light wood smoke. -9 degrees.

4:30 PM: No wood smoke. 6 degrees.

7:45 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. 2 degrees. Last check of the evening.

Sunday 01/03/2010 Air Pollution

12:55 AM: Light to moderate wood smoke.

6:40 AM: Very faint trace of wood smoke lingers in the air. -11 degrees.

1:00 PM: No wood smoke.

3:00 PM: No wood smoke.

5:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It is really smoky outside. 6 degrees.

7:20 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues. 3 degrees. Last check of the evening.

Saturday 01/02/2010 Air Pollution

7:30 AM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. -14 degrees. We are in a deep freeze. It is warmer inside the freezer than it is outside.

1:00 PM: No wood smoke. -6 degrees.

8:00 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke. -6 degrees. This was the last check of the evening. It was smokier after midnight.

Friday 01/01/2010 Air Pollution

The new year has arrived. And with it wood smoke.

4:45 PM: No wood smoke. 6 degrees. There was no wood smoke all day long.

6:00 PM: No wood smoke.

11:30 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. -6 degrees.

Thursday 12/31/2009 Air Pollution

5:30 AM: No wood smoke.

8:30 AM: No wood smoke. 8 degrees measured at North High School.

7:00 PM: Light wood smoke. 9 degrees. This was the last check of the evening.