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, April 29, 2011

Friday 04/29/2011 Air Pollution

Nothing says welcome home and have a nice weekend like burning yard waste! North St. Paul sucks.

4:20 PM: Faint grass smoke is in the air. Is it the same people burning a little bit of yard waste each day or is it new yard waste burners? Burning of everything and anything becomes more common each year thanks to the idiots who run this stupid city. 63 degrees and cloudy at this time with wind gusts.

6:00 PM: No smoke.

7:05 PM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time with a few rain drops falling.

7:25 PM: Light wood smoke. It's getting stronger. There was not much rain and it has stopped at this time.

8:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke that smells more like burning branches than logs. Stronger still. You can't have your windows open with smoke this heavy. If you do your house will quickly smell like wood smoke pollution. The windows were open earlier for fresh air and have since been closed. 58 degrees at this time.

9:00 PM: No smoke. Fresh air. How long will it last?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Thursday 04/28/2011 Air Pollution

It was another smoky evening. Surprise!

4:30 PM: No smoke.

6:15 PM: No smoke. 53 degrees.

Friday is going to be smoky as hell in the city of North St. Paul, MN. The forecast high is 72 degrees with no rain. All the pent up pyromania will be unleashed tomorrow. People will be burning wood, yard waste, whatever they can get their hands on. With this spring's weather being unseasonably cool and dreary, a lot of people will be having their first bonfires of the season. Throw in the frequent burners and yard waste burners and we could be talking a dozen or more fires in an an area of a half mile square.

It is going to be a long, smoky, polluted Friday night in North St. Paul. In other words, it will be a typical Friday night. The air is always smoky in North St. Paul if the weather is nice.

8:35 PM: A very faint wood smoke is in the air. A fireplace? Burning branches?

10:00 PM: The air is not fresh. Something is in it but not strong enough to tell what it is. Last check of the evening.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Wednesday 04/27/2011 Air Pollution

It's another cloudy and cold day. Snow was falling this morning and quickly melted away. If the weather was nicer, our air would be even smokier than it has been.

5:15 PM: No smoke. 42 degrees and cloudy. There will not be any bonfires tonight. But there could be some yard waste burners.

6:25 PM: A faint smoke of some type is in the air. I cannot determine what it is. It is not wood.

7:25 PM: Light to moderate wood and yard waste smoke. Somebody is burning. Again. As always.

8:15 PM: Light wood smoke that smells like burning branches.

9:45 PM: No smoke. Fresh air! Snow flakes are falling.

10:45 PM: Very faint wood smoke is in the air at this time. Last check of the evening.

Tuesday 04/26/2011 Air Pollution

There was no smoke this evening. It was cold and rainy all day. Rain means no bonfires or yard waste burning. Nobody was using a fireplace for home heating either. Thank goodness for fresh air! 43 degrees at 5:45 PM. 38 degrees at 9:00 PM.

Monday 04/25/2011 Air Pollution

5:00 PM: No smoke. 64 degrees.

5:30 PM: Faint grass smoke.

This is the worst year ever for yard waste burning in this city. More and more people are burning every year.

6:11 PM: A very faint smokiness of some type is in the air.

7:45 PM: Light to moderate wood or yard waste and brush smoke or something. I don't know exactly what is being burned, but it is producing a pretty heavy smoke.

8:30 PM: Light to moderate yard waste smoke. Grass and other waste is being burned.

9:50 PM: No smoke. Last check of the evening.

It's like this almost every day in North St. Paul. Do you want to live in polluted city like this?

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Sunday 04/24/2011 Air Pollution

Burning yard waste on Easter Sunday is pretty common. We are enjoying the smell of burning grass again this Easter. Do you want to invite your family over and have them outside breathing heavy yard waste smoke? North St. Paul is a horrible place to live. I wish we never moved to this shitty city.

11:00 AM: No smoke. There was no smoke earlier.

1:45 PM: Faint to light smoke of some type. I am not sure what it is. If it is food, somebody is burning their Easter dinner to a lump of charcoal. This isn't cooking odors. This is burning.

2:25 PM: Moderate grass smoke. Again this Easter, some asshole is burning grass. Sunny, 58 degrees, and beautiful except for the heavy yard waste smoke!

We endured burning grass smoke for Easter 2009 and had burning paper and wood smoke for Easter 2010 as well. I was not documenting the North St. Paul air pollution problem in 2008 at the time of Easter. I would not be surprised to find that it was smoky that Easter as well. One or more households likes to burn on Easter Sunday. You cannot even enjoy a holiday with family in this stupid nightmare city because somebody is always burning something!

Trust me when I say this: you do NOT want to live in a city like North St. Paul, MN. It is a HORRIBLE place to live. If you buy a home in this city, you will be sorry!

We enjoyed more burning yard waste this evening. Heavy air pollution on a daily basis is one of the joys of living in North St. Paul, MN.

4:00 PM: No smoke. Fresh air for now.

5:15 PM: No smoke. 58 degrees, sunny, beautiful.

6:00 PM: No smoke.

7:30 PM: No smoke.

8:20 PM: No smoke.

9:05 PM: The air is not fresh at this time. Whatever is in the air is not strong enough to determine what it is.

9:25: Light to moderate grass smoke. Somewhere not far away somebody is burning yard waste. Again. Yard waste smoke usually does not get as heavy as this. Somebody is illegally burning grass under cover of darkness. This is not uncommon. We've experienced burning yard waste at 1 AM in the morning before.

North St. Paul is a nightmare.

10:20 PM: Light to moderate grass smoke continues. Last check of the evening.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Saturday 04/23/2011 Air Pollution

After a run of fresh air the past few days, we are back into the normal North St. Paul smoky air. Extremely heavy wood and yard waste smoke this evening. Do you want to raise a family in a polluted city like this?

11:00 AM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air.

1:00 PM: No smoke.

4:20 PM: Very faint grass or wood smoke.

5:15 PM: Light grass smoke. Somebody is illegally burning grass.

6:00 PM: Light to moderate grass and wood smoke.

6:35 PM: Faint grass smoke.

7:07 PM: Very faint to faint grass smoke.

7:51 PM: Light to moderate wood and grass smoke. Someone may be burning brush.

8:15 PM: Light to moderate wood and grass smoke continues.

8:45 PM: A faint smoke of some type is in the air. I cannot identify it. People in this city burn wood, yard waste, paper, and other waste regularly. There is no telling what type of toxic pollution you and your children are breathing in North St. Paul, MN.

9:37 PM: Moderate wood and possibly brush smoke. The air outside reeks! You cannot breathe this air for long. You will get sick to your stomach and your sinuses will burn.

10:10 PM: Moderate to strong wood and possibly brush smoke. It is extremely smoky outside! Even with all the windows closed (we live like prisoners in our own home in this horrible nightmare city) I can smell wood smoke infiltrating around the windows. I stuck my head out the door for a few seconds and my nasal passages were tingling. A few minutes of this extremely heavy smoke and you will have burning sinuses. You may even suffocate. If you are an elderly person or a person with a respiratory disorder, North St. Paul air pollution could be deadly.

11:55 PM: Moderate wood and possibly some other type of smoke continues. The air reeks! It smells terrible like the bottom of a fireplace or ashtray.

That makes almost 8 hours of continuous smoke pollution. Do you want to live in a city like this? Do you want your babies breathing air this polluted? North St. Paul sucks!

Friday 04/22/2011 Air Pollution

6:00 PM: No smoke. 49 degrees. Rain.

8:35 PM: No smoke.

9:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke at this time. I can smell it just enough to detect its presence.

10:00 PM: No smoke. The slight wood smoke from earlier is gone.

11:00 PM: No smoke.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Thursday 04/21/2011 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke pollution this evening. The air was fresh. Wonderful fresh air! How rare it is to have fresh air in North St. Paul. No burning sinuses. No irritated eyes. No sore throat. No shortness of breath. No smoky clothes or smoky house. Only wonderful unpolluted air!

The temperature at 7 PM was 49 degrees. We had some light rain by 8 PM. No possibility of bonfires tonight.

Every evening without smoky air is cause for celebration in North St. Paul. There are so few evenings like that. If it isn't raining, isn't too windy, is above 65 degrees and below 90 degrees, the air will be smoky nearly 100% of the time during the evening. If the weather is nice, you can be guaranteed smoky air.

Living in North St. Paul is like living in a sausage factory smokehouse. That is not an exaggeration.

Wednesday 04/20/2011 Air Pollution

We woke to snow covering the ground. This spring has not been very nice. If the weather was nicer, the air would be smokier. I'll take the crappy weather if it means fresh air over our normal heavily polluted air.

There was no smoke this evening. The temperature at 5 PM was 43 degrees and it rained a little during the course of the evening. Nobody has a bonfire when it is cold and rainy.

It was very nice to do something we are usually unable to do in the city of North St. Paul, MN: step outside and take several deep breaths of fresh air. On a normal evening, the air would be so polluted with wood or grass smoke that spending any time outside would be uncomfortable and leave your clothes reeking of smoke.

Do you want to breathe smoky air every day of your life? If you live in North St. Paul, you will. The only relief we get from smoky air is because of lousy weather.

You will never appreciate the importance of fresh, unpolluted air until you live in a hell like North St. Paul.

Tuesday 04/19/2011 Air Pollution

6:45 PM: No smoke yet. 41 degrees and cloudy.

8:00 PM: No smoke.

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

11:00 PM: No smoke.

One household off in the distance was probably using a fireplace. Not much air pollution tonight.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Monday 04/18/2010 Air Pollution

5:15 PM: No smoke. 50 degrees.

5:45 PM: Faint grass smoke for a couple minutes then it was gone.

6:00 PM: No smoke.

6:50 PM: No smoke. Fresh air.

No smoke for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sunday 04717/2011 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke all morning or afternoon.

5:15 PM: The air is not fresh at this time but I cannot determine any type of smoke in it. 48 degrees and sunny.

5:40 PM: No smoke.

7:00 PM: No smoke.

10:15 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. Someone off in the distance may be using a fireplace. 44 degrees. Last check of the evening.

Saturday 04/16/2011 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke today. The air was fresh all day long. We woke to an inch of snow covering the ground. The snow must have discouraged North St. Paul's pyromaniac wood and yard waste burners from polluting the air today. We will take fresh air anyway we can get it around here. 40 degrees at 6 PM.

Friday 04/15/2011 Air Pollution

6:30 PM: No smoke yet. 49 degrees.

9:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke varying with the breeze.

11:30 PM: No smoke. Snow is falling at this time.

Thursday 04/14/2011 Air Pollution

4:30 PM: No smoke. 39 degrees, a light rain drizzle at around this time.

7:50 PM: A very faint smokiness of some type is in the air. I can smell smoke. I cannot determine what it is.

9:00 PM: No smoke.

There was no more smoke this evening.

Wednesday 04/13/2011 Air Pollution

My throat is still sore today from the heavy wood and chemical smoke I breathed yesterday evening during my walk.

5:30 PM: The air is not fresh but I cannot determine what is in it. 58 degrees.

There was no real wood or yard waste smoke this evening. Sometimes we get lucky in North St. Paul and get a rare evening without heavy air pollution.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Tuesday 04/12/2011 Air Pollution

There was yard waste smoke most of the day today. This year is the worst ever for yard waste burning. Every year in this nightmare town more people burn than the year before. We are living in a city where nobody has any respect for anyone else. Thanks to our city council members who force us to breathe contaminated air every day of our lives.

9:30 AM: It was around this time that I noticed the odor of burning grass in the air. Faint grass smoke at this time.

12:51 PM: Light to moderate grass smoke. The illegal yard waste burner must not be too far away for the air pollution to be this strong.

1:25 PM: Faint grass smoke continues.

2:15 PM: Faint grass smoke continues.

3:30 PM: A very faint yard waste smoke lingers in the air.

5:00 PM: No smoke. 68 degrees, sunny, a beautiful day if not for the damn smoke pollution in this screwy city!

6:25 PM: Faint grass smoke. Another burner joining the yard waste burning party or is it someone burning yard waste in batches? Just get the damn yard waste burning done so we can enjoy an evening or two of fresh air before the bonfire burning starts!

Fresh air is very rare in North St. Paul. We breathe wood smoke, brush smoke, grass smoke, paper smoke, and who knows what other contaminants on a daily basis. So will your little children should you make the mistake of moving to North St. Paul, MN.

6:40 PM: No smoke.

7:25 PM: A very faint trace of grass smoke lingers in the air at this time.

I made a big mistake this evening. I went for a walk. The air along the southern edge of Silver Lake was so smoky I ended up with a sore throat. At one point I could not breathe. My body was fighting my attempts to draw air into my lungs and I thought I might suffocate. There was a bonfire in the area of 19th & Margaret that generated a lot of smoke. I could see a huge cloud of smoke rising from the backyard of one of the homes in the area. The really bad smoke came further down. At around 19th & Charles I encountered some very strong wood and chemical smoke. It was not regular firewood that was being burned. Some sort of waste or substance other than firewood was being burned. The odor could best be described as similar to a citronella candle but different and much stronger. It was a chemical smell. My throat was sore by the time I arrived home from the heavy smoke I had to breathe. I later found out the fire was coming from a home in the area of 17th & Henry.

Do not go for walks in North St. Paul during the evening or you may suffocate from the heavy air pollution. I am not exaggerating about how bad the smoke was. Someone older than myself may have very well keeled over and died as a result of the heavy air pollution.

8:35 PM: A very faint wood and chemical smell is in the air. The breeze is bringing the smoke from the home on 17th & Charles to our neighborhood a good distance away.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air! Thank God!

Do you want to live in a city like this?

Monday 04/11/2011 Air Pollution

We enjoyed some heavy yard waste smoke this evening. This is the fourth day in a row we have experienced smoke pollution from burning yard waste. Soon the bonfires start. Smoky air every day.

4:30 PM: No smoke. 62 degrees and sunny.

5:25 PM: Faint grass smoke varying with the breeze. Another yard waste burner.

6:05 PM: Light to moderate smoke from burning grass. Yard waste smoke usually does not get this heavy. The illegal burner is not far.

7:45 PM: The air is not fresh but is mostly clear. Some type of very faint smoke lingers in the air.

8:40 PM: Moderate smoke from what smells like burning grass. The smoke is very heavy. You do not want to be outside breathing this air.

10:15 PM: Faint to light yard waste smoke continues. Either somebody is burning yard waste for a long time or multiple people are burning it. Or perhaps both conditions are met.

11:00 PM: Moderate wood and yard waste smoke. The air is very smoky. You do not want to breathe this air.

Do you see why living in North St. Paul sucks? Do not make the mistake of buying a house in this town. You will regret it!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Sunday 04/10/2011 Air Pollution

5:00 PM: Light wood smoke. It is windy at this time. 63 degrees. It was 76 degrees and humid earlier. There is a storm moving into the area.

5:30 PM: No smoke. Fresh air. Still windy.

7:00 PM: No smoke, but the air is not fresh at this time. There is something in it. Still windy.

10:30 PM: A very faint smoke of some type is in the air. 48 degrees. I will make the assumption that somebody off in the distance is using a fireplace. Last check of the evening.

Saturday 04/09/2011 Air Pollution

If you want to get an idea of what living in North St. Paul is like, imagine living in hell. Today we enjoyed smoky, polluted air all day long. One of city council member Jan Walczak's neighbors was burning brush for about 4-5 hours today. I wonder if he had a permit because that is a really long time to burn yard waste, even by the standards of this polluted town.

8:00 AM: Light wood smoke. I hate this city. If you had to breathe this polluted air every day of your life, you would hate it, too.

10:00 AM: Light wood smoke continues.

Around noon: Light to moderate brush smoke. Someone is burning branches and yard waste.

12:55 PM: A neighbor within 150 feet or so of city council member Jan Walczak's house is burning brush in his back yard. Huge clouds of smoke are being generated. We can smell the smoke blocks away! I wonder if Jan Walczak even lives in this city sometimes. How can she not notice all the smoky burners around her? She must really love polluted air. Walczak has for years refused to do a thing about the daily wood and yard waste smoke pollution. Some of the smokiest burners in the city had Jan Walczak campaign signs in their yards back during the 2008 election. Air polluters have an ally in Jan Walczak.

2:00 PM: Brush smoke continues.

3:20 PM: Faint grass smoke at this time. There was a light rain or drizzle earlier. It did not seem to put a halt to the yard waste burning in this nightmare town.

5:00 PM: Very faint brush smoke continues. 57 degrees. This makes about 5 hours of continuous yard waste smoke in the air. A quick journey around the neighborhood finds several yard waste burners. Do you want to live in a city like this?

6:15 PM: Mostly fresh air. Enjoy the little bit of fresh air while it lasts.

7:00 PM: The air is not fresh. It is mostly clear but there is something in it.

7:45 PM: Fresh air! Thank God!

8:45 PM: Fresh air continues.

9:20 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time. It's always smoky in North St. Paul.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke.

10:42 PM: No wood smoke.

11:15 PM: No wood smoke.

11:30 PM: No smoke. Lightning at this time.

It was a smoky, polluted hell of a day in the city of North St. Paul, MN. In other words, it was a normal day for us poor residents of this polluted nightmare city.

Friday 04/08/2011 Air Pollution

3:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is coming in from the east. I found a hit of wood smoke back on Poplar-Swan and on the park on the eastern edge of Silver Lake. It looks like a nearby house had a bonfire the night before. Could the wood still be smoldering all these hours later?

5:30 PM: No smoke. 62 degrees and cloudy.

8:45 PM: Light grass smoke. The yard waste burning starts already in the city of North St. Paul!

9:07 PM: Light to moderate grass smoke. The yard waste burning is in full force.

9:20 PM: Light grass smoke continues.

10:20 PM: A faint grass smoke lingers in the air.

10:50 PM: A faint smokiness continues.

11:15 PM: Faint wood smoke. I can hear shouting and hollering off in the distance from a loud party. They are probably having a bonfire and producing the wood smoke we smell blocks away.

North St. Paul sucks!

Thursday 04/07/2011 Air Pollution

6:00 PM: No smoke. 62 degrees.

7:55 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air at this time.

8:30 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues.

10:20 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky at this time. North St. Paul is hell on earth!

10:27 PM: Burning paper smoke. The breeze shifts directions. When the breeze comes out of the east it smells like burning wood. When the breeze comes out of the west it smells like burning paper. Somebody may be burning waste. No matter which way the wind blows in North St. Paul, it is filled with toxic pollution.

North St. Paul is the shittiest city on the planet! Do you want to breathe wood, yard waste, or paper smoke every day of your life? Do you want your children to inhale this polluted air into their delicate little lungs?

Wednesday 04/06/2011 Air Pollution

6:00 PM: No smoke. 57 degrees.

There was no smoke this evening.

Tuesday 04/05/2011 Air Pollution

6:30 PM: No smoke yet. 55 degrees.

7:30 PM: The air is not fresh. Some pollutant is in it but it is not strong enough to determine what it is.

9:30 PM: No smoke.

11:20 PM: No smoke.

Monday 04/04/2011 Air Pollution

5:45 PM: No smoke yet. 46 degrees and windy.

10:50 PM: Still no wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

Congratulations to us! We had one evening of smoke-free air. That does not happen often in this town.

Sunday 04/03/2011 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this morning or for most of the afternoon.

5:41 PM: There is a faint smoke of some type in the air. It is not smoke from the grilling of food. 54 degrees and cloudy.

8:00 PM: Light smoke. It is an odd smelling wood smoke.

11:00 PM: No smoke. Rain drizzle at this time.

Another smoky evening in North St. Paul, MN.

Saturday 04/02/2011 Air Pollution

6:30 AM: No smoke. Fresh air.

12:00 PM: No smoke.

5:45 PM: Paper smoke or smoke from burning waste. The smoke is light. 54 degrees.

8:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.

9:30 PM: Light wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

Friday 04/01/2011 Air Pollution

Another day of living in North St. Paul, Minnesota, means another day of smoky, polluted air.

7:00 AM: No smoke.

5:15 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

6:55 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. 46 degrees.

8:20 PM: Light wood smoke.

10:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air reeks. It is a strong smoke that smells like the bottom of an ashtray. You do not want to breathe this North St. Paul air pollution.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Yard Waste Burning Starts Early This Year

Right now (Friday evening at 9 PM) the air is filled with smoke from burning yard waste. I did not think that grass burning would start so soon with small patches of snow still on the ground. I saw people raking their yards today. I did not think anyone would be burning it. Living in this horrible nightmare city for as long as I have, I should have known better.

In the city of North St. Paul, MN, people are burning every night. Last night the air was heavy with smoke from wood and burning paper. When the breeze came from the east, it contained wood smoke. When the breeze shifted out of the west, it smelled of burning paper. I think someone to the west was burning garbage or newspapers with the smoke as heavy and lasting as long as it did. People love to burn in this town and City Hall encourages it. This is one screwed up polluted city.

This blog will be updated with the winter smoke log soon. Winter is the least smoky season in North Saint Paul. Winter offers us the best air quality. People would assume that winter is the most smoky season. Not in North St. Paul.

Most homes with fireplaces do not use them. The air is almost never smoky in the mornings during the winter. Wood smoke is concentrated in the evenings. People do not use fireplaces for home heating in this town. Homes need to be heated in the morning, but fireplaces are never used for heating them. Fireplaces are another form of recreational air pollution.

While I stopped updating the blog in early December, I did keep notes of the smoke in this city every morning and evening all winter long. I will spend a few hours getting this blog updated in the coming days.

If the yard waste burning is starting this early, it is going to be another smoky hell of a spring, summer, and fall in North St. Paul, MN. Just like every other year.

Do you want to live in a polluted city like this?