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.

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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Sunday 11/28/2010 Air Pollution

It is smoky as hell today! You don't want to be outside breathing this heavily polluted air!

6:00 AM: Fresh air.

12:00 PM: No smoke. Sunny, 41 degrees. The air was fresh all morning.

12:45 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky at this time. Some stinky wood is being burned. The air reeks!

1:00 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. The air is extremely smoky! You don't want to breathe this air.

3:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.

4:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke.

5:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. 44 degrees.

5:45 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. Extremely smoky air is back!

6:30 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke continues. I considered going for a walk to cure my restlessness but the polluted air is preventing me from leaving. Air this smoky can cause burning sinuses and nausea. I hate this city. North St. Paul sucks!

7:30 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke continues.

8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time.

8:35 PM: Moderate to strong very stinky wood smoke. The air reeks. This air is toxic poison.

9:30 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke lingers in the air. Last check of the evening.

Saturday 11/27/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke all morning and no wood smoke all day until evening. The morning temperature was 12 degrees. As cold as it was, nobody seemed to be burning wood for home heating during the daylight hours.

4:30 PM: No smoke. 25 degrees.

5:45 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It is barely noticeable.

7:25 PM: No smoke. The air is not fresh at this time. Something is in the air at a level insufficient to determine what it is.

9:15 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky at this time.

10:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues.

11:00 PM: No real smoke. The air is mostly clear at this time.

When I woke after 1 AM the air was fresh and clear.

Friday 11/26/2010 Air Pollution

4:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It is barely detectable.

6:00 PM: No smoke. The air is not fresh. 23 degrees.

7:00 PM: No smoke, air not fresh.

8:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

9:00 PM: No smoke. Last check of the evening.

When I woke around midnight the air was fresh.

Thursday 11/25/2010 Air Pollution

It's Thanksgiving. There was no wood smoke all morning or all day until evening. The morning temperature was 8 degrees.

5:00 PM: No smoke. 12 degrees.

6:00 PM: No smoke.

9:30 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke at this time. A large dinner made me sleepy so I missed the hours since the last check of air quality. Last check of the evening.

Wednesday 11/24/2010 Air Pollution

5:20 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. 32 degrees.

6:40 PM: Light wood smoke.

8:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Light wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

Tuesday 11/23/2010 Air Pollution

4:20 PM: No smoke. 24 degrees and sunny.

5:30 PM: No smoke.

6:30 PM: No smoke.

8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.

10:00 PM: Faint wood smoke continues. Last check of the evening.

Monday 11/22/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. The evening temperature was 25 degrees. It was 15 degrees at 10 PM.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sunday 11/20/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke all morning until mid afternoon.

3:30 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. 34 degrees.

4:15 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

5:10 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. 33 degrees.

915 PM: Light wood smoke.

10:15 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

11:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke remains in the air.

The air was fresh when I woke Monday morning.

Saturday 11/20/2010 Air Pollution

Wood smoke pollution makes a comeback. There was no wood smoke in the air all morning and all afternoon until evening.

6:00 PM: Light wood smoke. 24 degrees.

7:00 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky.

10:00 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. The air is sickeningly smoky. You do not want to breathe this toxic polluted air any more than you have to. Last check of the evening.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Friday 11/19/2010 Air Pollution

7:15 PM: Very faint wood smoke is in the air at this time. 30 degrees.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke at this time. 29 degrees.

9:10 PM: No smoke. Fresh air.

10:00 PM: No smoke. Fresh air continues.

Midnight: No smoke.

There was not much wood smoke in the air this evening for a temperature so cold.

Thursday 11/18/2010 Air Pollution

7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. 28 degrees.

9:00 PM: No smoke.

10:30 PM: No smoke.

11:10 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It is strong enough to notice but not strong enough to be a nuisance. Last check of the evening.

The colder it gets, the less wood smoke there is fouling our air here in the city of North St. Paul, MN. Most people would assume that winter is smokier than summer. Not around here. Spring, summer, and fall are far smokier than winter. That is because of the city's recreational burning ordinance that allows recreational bonfire burning all seven days of the week. With hundreds of homes around us, somebody somewhere is going to burn on any given evening. Despite what people say, fireplace use is recreational and not for home heating in most cases. There is more fireplace use when the temperature is in the 40s and 50s than when it drops into the 20s and below.

Wednesday 11/17/2010 Air Pollution

4:00 PM: No smoke. Cloudy, 36 degrees.

9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke.

10:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

Midnight: Light wood smoke continues.

Tuesday 11/16/2010 Air Pollution

4:45 PM: No smoke. The air is not fresh at this time. Something is in it. 35 degrees and cloudy.

7:30 PM: No real smoke yet. But the air is not fresh and clear.

8:45 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It is barely noticeable.

10:00 PM: No smoke.

11:25 PM: No smoke. Last check of the evening.

Monday 11/15/2010 Air Pollution

4:20 PM: No smoke. Mostly cloudy, 38 degrees.

7:35 PM: No wood smoke yet.

9:00 PM: No smoke.

10:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It is barely noticeable.

11:00 PM: No smoke.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sunday 11/14/2010 Air Pollution

The air was fresh all morning and all day until evening. Wood smoke pollution returns.

6:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time. 34 degrees.

8:30 PM: Faint wood smoke continues.

10:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

Saturday 11/13/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke today. The air was fresh all morning, all day, and all night. We got at least six inches of heavy, wet snow. This was our first significant snowfall of the season. It snowed all day and well into the nighttime hours. The temperature was 34 degrees at 6 PM. I cannot explain the absence of wood smoke pollution. The fresh air certainly was nice.

Friday, November 12, 2010

A visitor who wants to know if this city is a nice place to live

Yesterday, this blog got a visitor from Union, New Jersey. The visitor found this blog by searching for "Is north St Paul in Minnesota a nice community to live in". Read this blog. Do you want to breathe smoky air almost every day of your life? Do you want to breathe wood smoke so heavy it burns your sinuses? Do you want to breathe air so polluted it irritates your eyes and throat and makes it difficult for you to breathe? If you want heavy air pollution, North St. Paul, MN, is the community for you. If not, don't come near this nightmare town. Let this blog serve as your warning of how life in this city really is. Buying a home in a polluted hell of a city is a nightmare that never ends. It ruins your life.

Friday 11/12/2010 Air Pollution

It is a Friday. It is chilly. And we have a major snowstorm on the way. The weather forecasts differ. Some are calling for 3 - 5 inches of slush, others are forecasting 8 -12 inches of wet snow. It will be smoky tonight. If we get significant snow and it lasts for more than a few days, this could be the end of leaf burning for the season. There are still plenty of leaves covering yards. But they cannot be burned when they are covered with snow.

4:15 PM: No smoke. 43 degrees, cloudy.

5:15 PM: No smoke.

7:25 PM: Still no smoke.

8:15 PM: Moderately strong wood smoke. The air is very smoky right now.

9:30 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke.

10:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

11:30 PM: Faint to light wood smoke varying with the breeze. Light rain drizzle falling at this time.

Thursday 11/11/2010 Air Pollution

5:20 PM: No smoke. 49 degrees.

6:20 PM: No smoke. 46 degrees.

7:00 PM: No smoke.

9:00 PM: Still no wood smoke.

10:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke in the air. I can smell it just enough to detect its presence. Smoke at this low level during the summer would not require the closure of windows.

11:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues. Last check of the evening.

Wednesday 11/10/2010 Air Pollution

3:30 PM: There is a very faint trace of smoke from burning leaves in the air. 67 degrees and very nice at this time.

Other than the very faint leaf smoke, this was a smoke-free evening. We had light rain by 6 PM and it was raining heavily 45 minutes later. It was a good evening for those who appreciate fresh air. We do not get many evenings without polluted air in North St. Paul, MN.

Tuesday 11/09/2010 Air Pollution

4:20 PM: A very faint leaf smoke is in the air. Somewhere, somebody is illegally burning leaves. 68 degrees and beautiful at this time.

5:00 PM: No smoke. 66 degrees.

5:45 PM: Very faint wood smoke at this time.

6:30 PM: No smoke.

8:30 PM: No smoke.

10:00 PM: No smoke.

11:30 PM: No smoke. 57 degrees at this time in the Twin Cities.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Monday 11/08/2010 Air Pollution

4:05 PM: No smoke. 64 degrees and sunny. This has to be one of the nicest fall seasons I have ever experienced.

4:35 PM: No smoke.

6:20 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

6:45 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The outside air is very smoky.

7:35 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. The air is extremely smoky! Breathing air this smoky is very unpleasant. You do not want to inhale this pollution into your lungs.

9:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke at this time.

9:55 PM: The air is mostly clear. Last check of the evening.

Sunday 11/07/2010 Air Pollution

6:00 AM: No smoke. Fresh air.

10:00 AM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air.

11:40 AM: A very faint trace of smoke continues.

1:05 PM: Faint to light leaf smoke. Somebody is burning yard waste instead of watching the Vikings football game. I hate this city. Somebody is always burning something and polluting the air we must breathe. Sunny, 54 degrees at this time.

2:00 PM: Fresh air.

5:00 PM: No smoke. Fresh air for the time being. 61 degrees and sunny.

6:00 PM: No smoke where we live. Smoky air everywhere else. The air was smoky only a half block from us. I went for a walk at this time. I could not stand breathing the smoky, polluted air while getting some exercise so I made my walk shorter than I would have liked. Living in North St. Paul, MN, is like living in hell. You will breathe smoky air every day of your life in this horrible nightmare city. 56 degrees.

7:35 PM: No smoke where we live. The air is not fresh, but I cannot identify anything in it.

9:00 PM: No smoke.

10:00 PM: No smoke.

11:00 PM: No smoke.

Midnight: I checked the air after midnight when I woke up and it was fresh.

The wind was in our favor tonight. The air outside our home was free of wood smoke. The air was smoky only a few hundred feet from our home. Somebody down the street likely had a fireplace or wood stove burning. We get lucky sometimes. If the wind pattern had been different, our air would have been smoky as it almost always is.

Saturday 11/06/2010 Air Pollution

Smoky air from yard waste during the daytime and wood smoke most of the evening.

11:55 AM: Light to moderate leaf smoke. Somebody is burning leaves. I looked around outside and did not see any smoke. It could be someone a few blocks upwind. The air was fresh prior to this time. 40 degrees.

12:38 PM: Faint leaf smoke continues. The illegal yard waste burning may be ending soon.

1:30 PM: No smoke.

5:30 PM: No smoke. 57 degrees and sunny. It is very pleasant for a late fall day.

6:15 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time. Naturally, the air is polluted with wood smoke as it usually is during the evenings.

7:45 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky at this time.

9:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke.

10:20 PM: A very faint smokiness lingers in the air.

11:30 PM: The air is mostly clear at this time.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Friday 11/05/2010 Air Pollution

The air was fresh all morning and all day long until evening.

5:15 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air. The air has been fresh all day long. There was no wood smoke in the air all day. The temperature only reached a high of 45 degrees today. The morning temperature was 34 degrees. 45 degrees and sunny at this time.

6:05 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky. The air stinks something terrible. The wood being burned smells more unpleasant than most. It is going to be a smoky hell of a night.

7:35 PM: Moderately strong wood smoke continues.

10:15 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues. Last check of the evening. The air was fresh when I woke Saturday morning.

Thursday 11/04/2010 Air Pollution

4:50 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air for the time being. 45 degrees and sunny.

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

8:45 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

9:05 PM: Moderate wood smoke at this time. The outside air is very smoky. Last check of the evening.

Wednesday 11/03/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. I am not sure why. The fresh air was nice. The temperature was 54 degrees at 5:30 PM. The temperature dropped to 49 degrees by 9:30 PM. I last checked the air around 10:30 PM when the air was fresh and clean.

Tuesday 11/02/2010 Air Pollution

4:00 PM: No smoke.

6:25 PM: No smoke. 55 degrees, partly cloudy. Just got back from voting.

7:55 PM: Light wood smoke.

8:10 PM: Moderate wood smoke.

9:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke at this time. Last check of the evening.

Monday 11/01/2010 Air Pollution

It was another smoky evening.

4:45 PM: No smoke. Fresh air. 51 degrees.

6:20 PM: Light wood smoke.

7:00 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

8:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky.

9:00 PM: The air is mostly clear.

10:00 PM: The air is mostly clear. Last check of the evening.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Sunday 10/31/2010 Air Pollution

I did not notice any smoke from burning yard waste today where we live. Smoke from burning leaves was all over elsewhere in the city. This city is a polluted nightmare.

6:00 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air. 47 degrees.

I did not notice any wood smoke while the kids were out gathering candy. There was an odor of burning wax in the air.

11:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. Last check of the evening. The air was fresh and clear when I woke at 5:30 AM Monday morning.

Saturday 10/30/2010 Air Pollution

It was an extremely smoky evening. Burning leaf smoke in the afternoon followed by heavy wood smoke in the evening. If you don't want to breathe heavy smoke pollution, you will be miserable in North St. Paul as we are.

3:30 PM: Very faint leaf smoke at this time.

4:15 PM: Very faint leaf smoke continues. In the distance I can see two homes down the road burning in their backyards. The smoke isn't making it this direction as it is blowing south. One is a frequent wood and yard waste burner. 51 degrees and sunny.

5:30 PM: Very faint leaf smoke continues. That's two hours of continuous smoke from burning leaves.

6:05 PM: A very faint smoke of some kind is in the air.

7:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. The air is uncomfortably smoky.

7:35 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. The air is extremely smoky. You do not want to be outside breathing this air. It is heavily polluted. Breathing air this smoky is difficult to put it mildly. Your lungs do not want to expand to intake the polluted air. 44 degrees at this time. Last check of the evening.

When I woke Sunday morning at 6 AM the air was fresh. The air was fresh all morning Sunday. People say that fireplaces are used for home heating. Most are not. We have very little wood smoke in the air in the mornings even in the middle of winter. Wood smoke from fireplaces is concentrated in the evenings making them recreational in purpose. If people used fireplaces for home heating, wouldn't they be used in the morning which is usually the coldest part of the day?