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!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Saturday 06/09/2012 Air Pollution

It was another smoky night in North St. Paul.  The heat made for a less smoky Saturday night than we have been having recently.

5:15 PM:  No smoke.  91 degrees, sunny, a little windy.

7:45 PM:  No smoke yet.

9:00 PM:  No smoke.

10:00 PM:  Light wood smoke

Midnight:  Light to moderate wood smoke.

The air was fresh when I woke at 6 AM Sunday morning. 

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Friday 06/08/2012 Air Pollution

It may have been a miracle tonight.  There was no wood or yard waste smoke up to the time I went to bed.  But with the burning often starting after 11:30 PM, I can't say if there was burning after I went to bed at 10:45 PM.  I woke after 3 AM and checked the air on my way back to bed.  It was clear.  The temperature was 89 degrees at 5 PM.  It was warm but not uncomfortable.  The temperature was 85 degrees in the Twin Cities at 9:45 PM.  It was warm but not too warm for burning.  Recreational burning does not happen much when the evening temperature is in the upper 80s or above.

Thursday 06/07/2012 Air Pollution

More late night burning tonight with the burning of what smelled like tree branches after 11:30 PM.  Had I not gotten out of bed and checked the air on the way back I would not have noticed it.

5:00 PM:  No smoke.

6:00 PM:  No smoke.  82 degrees.

9:00 PM:  No smoke yet.

10:45 PM:  There is some strange type of smell in the air.  I don't know what it is.  Off to bed.

11:45 PM:  Faint wood or yard waste smoke.  It smells like burning tree branches.  Who knows what it is.  If it is combustible, it gets burned in North St. Paul.  If the windows were open they would need to be closed.

Midnight:  Faint smoke continues.

Wednesday 06/06/2012 Air Pollution

There was no smoke tonight because of rain.  The temperature was 81 degrees at 5 PM under a mostly cloudy sky.  There was a short sprinkle of rain around 6:40 PM with light rain coming down at 7 PM.  After 7:30 PM the sun was shining through the rain producing a rainbow in the eastern sky. 

Tuesday 06/05/2012 Air Pollution

Another smoky night with some yard waste burning.

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  82 degrees.

6:00 PM:  No smoke.

7:00 PM:  No smoke.

8:00 PM:  No smoke.

8:12 PM:  Light grass smoke.  There is an illegal yard waste burner out there somewhere.

8:15 PM:  Light to moderate wood and grass smoke.  The burner may be burning tree branches with the grass or raking the grass into a firepit.  That happens often.  People start a bonfire and rake their grass clippings into it.

8:27 PM:  Light to moderate grass smoke.

8:50 PM:  Light to moderate grass and wood smoke.

9:30 PM:  The air is mostly clear but not fresh.

10:35 PM:  No smoke.  Last check of the evening.

Monday 06/04/2012 Air Pollution

It was a miracle!  There was no wood or yard waste smoke in the air tonight.  Up to the point I went to bed anyway.  There is a trend with late night burning starting around 11:30 PM.  I don't know what happened after that.

It was 82 degrees and sunny at 5 PM with a little breeze.  The sky was cloudy after 7 PM with gray clouds that looked as if they might produce rain but did not. 

It was a nice evening for those who like clean air.

Sunday 06/03/2012 Air Pollution

It smells like waste being burned after midnight this morning.  Smells like particle board is being burned.  The horrible smoke from whatever was being burned lasted most of the morning hours.

1:30 AM:  Strong smoke from what smells like burning waste.  It smells like particle board being burned.  Particle board is sawdust and a glue binder pressed into sheets.  I don't know what waste is being burned.  But regular wood logs are not being burned at this time. 

Will this hell ever end?  I woke up with a headache and a sick feeling.  I feel hungover from all the wood smoke pollution.  It's something terrible.  You can't imagine it until you've lived it.

4:15 AM:  Light to moderate waste smoke continues.  Still smells like particle board being burned.

7:20 AM:  A very faint waste smoke continues.  The North St. Paul hell never ends!

10:30 AM:  Very faint wood smoke in the front yard, nothing in the back.  Not much.  Enough to smell it.

12:00 PM:  Very faint wood smoke in the front yard, nothing in the back.

1:35 PM:  Very faint wood smoke in the back yard now.

4:30 PM:  No smoke.  Cloudy, 73 degrees.

6:00 PM:  No smoke.  74 degrees, sunny again.

6:25 PM:  A very faint smoke of some type is in the air.  It does not smell like a grill.

7:30 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  There it is.  We relive the North St. Paul nightmare every night.

8:30 PM:  No real smoke in the air but it is not fresh.

10:00 PM:  Moderate wood smoke.  Another evening of heavy wood smoke pollution in North St. Paul!

11:00 PM:  Moderate wood smoke continues.

Midnight:  Very faint wood smoke lingers in the air.

Saturday 06/02/2012 Air Pollution

It was a long, brutal hell of a smoky night in North St. Paul.  The smoke was off the charts.  The smoke was seeping in with the windows closed.  It wasn't just smoky in our area.  It was smoky all over the northern section of North St. Paul.  There were bonfires and smoky air all over.  I woke up with a headache and a sick feeling tonight.  I think the heavy wood smoke pollution caused it.

North St. Paul's air is dangerous to your health.  North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live.
 
4:05 PM:  Light wood smoke coming and going from asshole frequent burner.  He's burning again.  74 degrees, sunny, breezy.

4:30 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke varying with the wind. 

4:45 PM:  Moderate wood smoke from the asshole frequent burner.  As heavy as it is here, I cannot begin to imagine how heavy it must be living next door with his huge clouds of smoke blowing right at your home.

5:00 PM:  The wood smoke varies in intensity as it comes and goes on the wind.

6:35 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke from the asshole frequent burner continues.

7:15 PM:  Very faint wood smoke where we are.

9:00 PM:  Strong wood smoke.  This smoke is extremely heavy.  It is unhealthy and inhumane!  You cannot stand to breathe this heavily polluted North St. Paul air.  Even with all the windows closed the heavy pollution is seeping into the house.  These older homes are not airtight.  There are little gaps and cracks where the smoke pollution comes in.  This is torture!

10:00 PM:  Strong wood smoke continues.  This makes six hours of smoky air already this evening.  The night is young.  There is much more to come.

11:00 PM:  Strong wood smoke continues.  I went to bed at this time.

The heavy wood smoke continued well after midnight with smoke lingering in the air all morning.


The wood smoke was so heavy I woke up after 1 AM  with a headache and a sick feeling.  It's like a hangover from the heavy North St. Paul air pollution.  I do not get headaches often.  I don't know what else made me feel sick other than the extremely heavy wood smoke pollution.  It's awful beyond words.  North St. Paul used to be such a nice place to live.  Now it is hell on earth!  North St. Paul sucks!

Friday 06/01/2012 Air Pollution

Peak burning season has arrived.  Without rain, there will be smoke in the air almost every evening until fall.  It was a long, smoky night in North St. Paul.  It gets much worse than this.

3:15 PM:  Very faint grass smoke coming in the windows and ruining what was a beautiful afternoon.  69 degrees and beautiful except for the yard waste smoke.

3:50 PM:  Faint grass smoke.  The illegal yard waste burner has caused the windows to be closed.  Thanks, asshole, wherever you are.

4:30 PM:  No smoke.  I saw that asshole frequent burner was burning as I was heading back home.  Maybe he could have been the source of the illegal yard waste burning an hour earlier.  Or it could have been someone else.  There are more people burning yard waste in North St. Paul now than there was ten years ago.  Burning encourages more burning. 

5:00 PM:  Moderate wood smoke from the asshole frequent burner.  The wind shifted and we get to breathe polluted air.  North St. Paul sucks!

6:05 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke from asshole frequent burner.  The wood he burns has a distinctive smell unlike wood burned by anyone else.  I don't even need to drive behind his house to know when he burns.  If the wind is right it comes down here into our windows and into our lungs.

7:25 PM:  No smoke.  The wind must have shifted again.  Asshole frequent burner usually burns from three to five hours at a time.  I would say he is still burning.

 8:40 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke different from before.  This is the more typical smoke produced by bonfires.  The bonfires are starting now.   Asshole frequent burner burns early and by the time his wood smolders itself out is when the other bonfire burners start burning.

9:45 PM:  There is a very faint trace of wood smoke in the air.  The wind must have shifted again giving us a temporary break from the toxic poison air in North St. Paul.  I can hear loud voices off in the distance.  Sounds like a party.  They may be doing the burning.

11:40 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  Smoky air is back.

This is how we live in North St. Paul.  Do you want to live in a city like this?

Thursday 05/31/2012 Air Pollution

It was another very smoky night in North St. Paul. 

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  65 degrees.

8:30 PM:  No smoke yet.

9:00 PM:  No smoke.

9:30 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  The air is good and smoky.  If you like breathing smoky, polluted air, you are going to love North St. Paul.  You will breathe more wood smoke pollution in one summer than most people will during their entire lifetimes.

9:55 PM:  Moderate wood smoke.  It is very smoky outside.  You do not want to breathe this toxic North St. Paul air if you can avoid it.  59 degrees.  There is not much of a breeze to blow the smoke away.  The wood smoke pollution saturates the entire area.

10:50 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke continues.

11:30 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke continues.

You can see why we can never go to bed with the windows open and why everyone around here has to pay to run their air conditioners on cool summer nights.

Wednesday 05/30/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening.  It was cool.  Not many bonfires take place when it is cool like this.  It was 59 degrees and cloudy at 6 PM.  It was a nice night if you like breathing clean air.

Tuesday 05/29/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke tonight.  It was a cool night.  There are not many bonfires when the temperature is this cool.  It was 62 degrees at 7 PM.  It was 56 degrees around 10 PM with the weather forecast calling for rain. 

Monday 05/28/2012 Air Pollution

I don't know if we witnessed a miracle tonight or not.  There was no wood smoke in the air up to 10 PM when I went to bed.  But with the trend of burning starting after 11 PM who knows.  The temperature at 7 PM was 74 degrees and it was sunny and windy.

Sunday 05/27/2012 Air Pollution

Some burning grass this evening but no wood smoke due to unfavorable weather conditions.  The only thing that saves us from heavy air pollution in this nightmare town is bad weather.

6:00 PM:  No smoke yet.  Nice to enjoy some fresh air for a while.  You don't get much fresh air in North St. Paul.  90 degrees.  Starting to get cloudy.  A chance of a thunderstorm is in the weather forecast for later tonight.

6:50 PM:  Light grass smoke at this time.  There is an illegal yard waste burner out there somewhere.

8:00 PM:  No smoke.  A sprinkle of rain fell for a few minutes then moved out.

8:30 PM:  No smoke.  The sound of rumbling thunder can be heard in the clouds.

There was no more smoke this evening.

Saturday 05/26/2012 Air Pollution

Heavy wood smoke from the prior night's burning lasted well into the morning hours.  Fortunately for all of us in this neighborhood, rain prevented the nightly burning from happening tonight.  We were spared heavy air pollution because of the good graces of mother nature. 

1:00 AM:  Moderate wood smoke continues.  The air is much too smoky to open the windows any time soon.

2:00 AM:  Light wood smoke continues.  The burner is letting their wood smolder all night long.  Isn't that nice?  It happens all the time in North St. Paul.  I can go out for a walk on a Saturday or Sunday morning and find several areas where bonfires were left smoldering all night along my walking path.  Sometimes the unattended smoldering bonfires continue to produce visible smoke.  Fire safety isn't a concern of most of the asshole wood burners in this horrible city.

6:30 AM:  The air is not fresh.  Some type of pollutant lingers in the air, likely from the fire left smoldering all night long. 

There was no wood smoke this evening.  It was cool and it rained off and on during the day.  We had a thunderstorm around 10 AM that left the ground and all the wood that would have otherwise been burned wet.  It was 63 degrees and cloudy at 6 PM with a chance of more rain in the forecast. 

After last night's brutal wood smoke pollution we deserved a night of fresh air!

Friday 05/25/2012 Air Pollution

Extremely heavy wood smoke tonight.  The air was so heavily polluted you could not stand to breathe it!  It was so smoky you could smell the smoke seeping into the house with all the windows closed.  Living in North St. Paul is like living in hell.  Not uncharacteristic of a weekend night in North St. Paul.  Or any other night.

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  68 degrees, cloudy, with rain forecast for late tonight.

5:35 PM:  Moderately strong wood smoke coming and going on the wind.  We are enduring bursts of very smoky air.  Asshole frequent burner is burning again.  This stupid city allows him to burn seven days a week.  He takes advantage of it as much as he wants.  Tonight everyone around here is paying the price.

7:00 PM:  Moderate wood smoke continues.

8:00 PM:  No smoke at this time.  It comes and goes on the wind.  It will be back when the wind shifts.

9:00 PM:  Light wood smoke.

10:00 PM:  Strong wood smoke.  The air is so polluted it is a serious health hazard!  You can't stand to breathe this air.  Your lungs resist your efforts to draw in air when the smoke is this heavy, which is common in North St. Paul, MN.

11:25 PM:  Strong wood smoke continues.  We have endured about six hours of heavy wood smoke in the air coming and going this evening.  It is going to be a long and smoky night.  North St. Paul is hell on earth!

Do you want to live in a city like this?

Thursday 05/24/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening due to unfavorable weather conditions.  The ground was wet from heavy rain in the morning.  It was a little on the cool side with a temperature of 60 degrees at 6 PM.  There are not many bonfires when the temperature is this cool.

Wednesday 05/23/2012 Air Pollution

Three was no wood smoke this evening due to storms coming into the Twin Cities and a brief rain shower around 7 PM.  It rained for a few minutes then stopped.  Fresh air we will take any way we can get it in this town.  87 degrees and cloudy at 6:15 PM with storms moving toward the Minneapolis and St. Paul area.

Tuesday 05/22/2012 Air Pollution

More late night burning in North St. Paul.  I don't know who is doing it as no one around us is burning, but someone likes to start burning late this year, usually after 11 PM when recreational burning is no longer allowed.  People don't follow the rules and they are not going to.  The city of North St. Paul has published warnings about illegal yard waste burning in the city newsletter the past three years with no effect on the amount of yard waste burning.  As long as the city allows burning, people are going to be burning anything they can get their hands on at all hours of the night.

6:00 PM:  No smoke.  84 degrees, sunny, and windy. 

9:45 PM:  No smoke.  Fresh air!  There has been no yard waste or wood burning up to this point.

10:30 PM:  The air is not fresh at this time.  There is a trace amount of something in it.

11:45 PM:  Very faint to faint wood smoke coming in on the wind.  Someone has a bonfire going late.  Still breezy at this time.  The smoke can be smelled more from the front of the house than in the back.

Monday 05/21/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke in the air this evening that I noticed.  But with the trend of burning starting after 11:30 PM, there could have been some late night burning I was not awake to notice.  It was 72 degrees and sunny at 8:15 PM.  There was a motor vehicle exhaust smell in the air by 8:30 PM.  No wood smoke.

Sunday 05/20/2012 Air Pollution

More late night burning in North St. Paul, MN.  This happens often and is why we can never open the windows before bedtime.

3:00 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke coming in on the wind.  54 degrees, cloudy, windy.

6:30 PM:  No smoke.  61 degrees, sunny.

8:30 PM:  There is a light something in the air that smells like motor vehicle exhaust fumes.  I don't know what it is.  It could be exhaust fumes or somebody could be burning waste.

10:30 PM:  A light pollutant of some type that smells like exhaust fumes continues.

11:45 PM:  Faint wood smoke.  I don't know why anyone would start using a fireplace at this late hour on a Sunday night.  My guess is that someone has a bonfire going or is preparing to burn waste.  There is someone around somewhere who likes burning waste on Sunday nights.

Saturday 05/19/2012 Air Pollution

1:00 AM:  The air is not fresh at this time.  75 degrees.

1:15 AM:  A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air at this time from distant burning.

2:30 AM:  A very faint trace of wood smoke continues.

4:30 PM:  No smoke here.  Asshole frequent burner is burning at this time, producing big clouds of smoke.  We can't smell it down here.  Lucky for us.  82 degrees, cloudy.

5:15 PM:  The air is not fresh.  Not smoky, not fresh.  Some type of pollutant is in the air.

5:55 PM:  No smoke.  A severe thunderstorm warning was declared for the Twin Cities area.

7:12 PM:  No smoke.  Rain starting to fall.

There was no smoke for the duration of this evening.  Saved by the rain.

Friday 05/18/2012 Air Pollution

The weather forecast called for a chance of a thunderstorm tonight.  That may be the reason we had less wood smoke in the air than normal for a Friday night.

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  92 degrees, sunny, beautiful.

9:35 PM:  Faint wood smoke in the air at this time.  There was no smoke prior to this check of the air quality.  86 degrees in the Twin Cities.

9:54 PM:  Very faint wood smoke coming and going on the breeze at this time.  A rumble of thunder was heard.

11:00 PM:  No smoke.

There was a little wood smoke in the air well after midnight. 

Thursday 05/17/2012 Air Pollution

7:20 PM:  No smoke yet.  Enjoying that fresh air.  82 degrees, sunny, very nice.

8:45 PM:  Faint wood smoke.  There it is.  Somebody is burning every night in the area. 

9:10 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke varying with the breeze with two different types of smoke coming from different directions.  The smoke smells like one type of wood with the breeze coming from the east and a different type when it comes in from the south.  There are at least two bonfires in the area somewhere.

9:50 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke continues.  It's smoky outside.  Can't open the windows.

11:30 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke continues varying with the wind.  There is no chance of opening the windows tonight. 

Wednesday 05/16/2012 Air Pollution

3:40 PM:  Faint grass and wood smoke around this time.  Someone is illegally burning yard waste.  Happens all the time.

4:00 PM:  No smoke.

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  68 degrees, sunny.

5:30 PM:  A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air.  I don't know what it is.  It does not smell like a grill.

6:30 PM:  A very faint trace of some unknown type of smoke continues.

7:30 PM:  A very faint trace of something continues.

9:00 PM:  A very faint trace of some unknown smoke continues.

10:00 PM:  The air is clear.

There was no more smoke for this evening.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Tuesday 05/15/2012 Air Pollution

Another evening with wood smoke in the air. 

5:15 PM:  No smoke.  73 degrees, sunny and windy.

6:40 PM:  Light wood smoke coming and going.  The smoke seems to be coming out of the east.  Windy at this time.

7:00 PM:  No smoke.

7:50 PM:  Very faint wood smoke.

There was no more wood smoke this evening that I noticed.

Monday 05/14/2012 Air Pollution

It's another smoky evening in North St. Paul.  As usual.

4:30 PM:  Faint wood smoke coming and going.  Breezy, 83 degrees, sunny and beautiful.

5:00 PM:  Faint wood and grass smoke.  Some illegal yard waste burner probably started a bonfire and is raking their grass clippings into the firepit.  This happens all the time in North St. Paul.  84 degrees.

6:19 PM:  A very faint trace of wood smoke lingers.

8:00 PM:  The air is not fresh.  Something undetectable is in it.

9:20 PM:  Not fresh air continues.

10:00 PM:  Not fresh air continues.

10:20 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke.  The bonfires are starting a little late this evening.

10:27 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  It's getting heavier.  Pretty smoky outside right now.  Breathing this air is uncomfortable and unpleasant.

10:29 PM:  Moderate wood smoke.  Very smoky air right now.  78 degrees outside.

10:50 PM:  The air is not fresh.  Something is in it but most of the wood smoke is gone for now.  There is no breeze at this time.  Last check of the evening.

Sunday 05/13/2012 Air Pollution

Heavy smoke from last night's burning lasted well into the morning hours.  Then we had more wood smoke this evening.  This is how you can expect to live if you make the mistake of buying a house in North St. Paul, MN.  It's been like this for years and there is no end in sight.

12:15 AM:  Strong wood smoke continues. 

1:00 AM:  Moderate to strong wood smoke.  The smoke pollution is finally waning.

2:45 AM:  Faint to light wood smoke.

5:00 AM:  Light wood smoke.  

A very faint smoldering smokiness lingered in the air most of the morning. 

1:35 PM:  A faint wood smoke is coming in on the wind and lasted for a few hours.

4:15 PM:  Very faint wood smoke continues. 

5:20 PM:  Very faint wood smoke coming in on the breeze out of the south.

6:15 PM:  A faint smoke of some type is in the air.  75 degrees, sunny, and beautiful if not for the smoke pollution in the air.

7:25 PM:  Very faint to faint smoke of some undetermined type.

8:38 PM:  Faint wood smoke.  The nightly bonfires are starting. 

9:00 PM:  Light wood smoke.  Wood smoke is getting heavier.

9:10 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  Heavier still.

9:38 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke and possibly grass smoke.  The smoke smells strange.  Nobody around us is burning.

11:00 PM:  No smoke.  I can't explain the absence of the wood smoke pollution.  But I'm glad it is gone for now.

There was no more wood smoke for the rest of the night.

Saturday 05/12/2012 Air Pollution

Another North St. Paul nightmare from hell!  Yard waste smoke all afternoon with extremely heavy wood smoke at night.  This is normal in North St. Paul.

1:15 PM:  Faint to light wood and grass smoke coming in the windows.  Close the windows.  64 degrees, sunny.

1:37 PM:  Light wood smoke.

2:45 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke coming and going on the wind.

3:05 PM:  Faint to light wood and grass smoke continues.

3:15 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  The smoke pollution is getting heavier.  Just what we need.

4:45 PM:  Light wood smoke continues.  67 degrees, sunny and breezy.

6:00 PM:  No smoke.  The fresh air will not last long.  69 degrees, sunny, and beautiful.  Another beautiful evening soon to be spoiled by North St. Paul's nightly wood smoke pollution.

6:10 PM:  Faint lighter fluid smell on the breeze.  Asshole frequent burner must be preparing his pile of wood for burning.

6:45 PM:  A very faint smoke of some type is in the air.  I don't know what it is.

7:50 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  Very smoky air at this time.  No chance of having the windows open this evening.

8:55 PM:  Moderate to strong wood smoke.  Extremely smoky air at this time.  You cannot stand to breathe this air.  North St. Paul sucks!

9:15 PM:  Strong wood smoke.  This is about as heavy as wood smoke pollution can get.  With all the windows closed tight the smoke still makes its way into the house.

10:00 PM:  Strong wood smoke continues.  This smoke is even stronger than before!  I would have to add another category to describe how heavy this smoke is.  The wood smoke is off the charts.

11:00 PM:  Strong wood smoke continues.

The air was still smoky at 5 AM the next morning.  Do you want to live in a city like this?

Friday 05/11/2012 Air Pollution

Home today to experience some burning in the early afternoon.  I wonder how often this happens.

1:30 PM:  Light wood and possibly grass smoke coming in on the wind.  It is windy at this time.  Close windows.

2:45 PM:  Faint wood and grass smoke.

3:05 PM:  Light wood smoke on the wind.  There is a chance of rain in the weather forecast.  Someone may be burning yard waste ahead of the rain. 

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  67 degrees, cloudy.

6:50 PM:  No smoke.  A little rain drizzle is falling at this time.

8:00 PM:  No smoke.  Drizzling rain.

9:00 PM:  No smoke.  Drizzling rain continues.

There was no more smoke pollution this evening.

Thursday 05/10/2012 Air Pollution

Heavy wood smoke from the prior evening's burning continued well after midnight.  Then we were treated to more heavy smoke pollution this evening.

Do you want to live in a city like this?

12:30 AM:  Moderate to strong wood smoke continues.

2:00 AM:  Moderate wood smoke.  The smoke pollution is starting to decrease.  The burners must have went inside and left the fire to burn itself out so it smolders all night long.

4:30 AM:  A faint to light smoldering wood smoke lingers in the air.

The air was clear when I woke this morning.

5:15 PM:  No smoke.  Sunny, breezy, 73 degrees and beautiful.

7:00 PM:  No smoke.  Fresh air.  It won't last.

8:25 PM:  Strong wood smoke.  I don't know who is burning.  With the smoke extremely heavy like this the burner must not be far.  I stepped outside for a minute and looked around to find nobody around us burning.  My clothes reeked of wood smoke from being outside a short time.

8:45 PM:  No smoke.  The breeze must have shifted direction. 

There was no more wood smoke for the rest of the night.

Wednesday 05/09/2012 Air Pollution

Late night burning produced some heavy wood smoke after 11 PM tonight.  This is why we can never go to bed with the windows open in this town.  You never know when someone is going to do some late night burning.  It happens often in North St. Paul, MN.  It's been this way for years now.  There is nothing more infuriating than waking up in the middle of the night to a house filled with the stench of heavy wood smoke. 

5 PM:  No smoke.  Sunny, 65 degrees.  Nice.

7:30 PM:  No smoke.

8:30 PM:  Air is not fresh.  Something undetectable is in it.

10:30 PM:  Not fresh air continues.

11:15 PM:  Moderate to strong wood smoke.  Extremely smoky outside right now.  This air is unfit for human consumption!  I could smell it coming in a window that was left open a crack for ventilation.  Close the windows.  58 degrees.

Do you want to live in a city like this?

Tuesday 05/08/2012 Air Pollution

4:10 PM:  No smoke.  Raining now.  A little thunder is in the sky.  56 degrees.

There was no smoke this evening. 

Monday 05/07/2012 Air Pollution

Asshole frequent burner is burning again. 

4:40 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke from asshole frequent burner.  I saw smoke rising from his property as I came into the neighborhood.  64 degrees, sunny, windy.

5:40 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke from asshole frequent burner continues.  Can you imagine how strong that smoke must be living right next door?

7:00 PM:  No smoke.  Frequent burner must be done burning for the evening or the wind shifted, sparing us from his wood smoke pollution.

There was no more smoke for the rest of the evening.

Sunday 05/06/2012 Air Pollution

More smoky air in North St. Paul.  Somebody in the area likes to burn waste on Sunday nights.

4:45 PM:  A very faint trace of a distinct wood smoke is in the air.  Asshole frequent burner is burning again.  I don't need to go out on the road behind his house to know he is burning.  Nobody else burns wood that smells like that..  63 degrees, cloudy.

5:15 PM:  Moderate wood smoke from asshole frequent burner.  The air is very smoky.  It comes and goes.  We are not catching much of it as the breeze is shifting.  I feel sorry for those who live next door to him.  If it is heavy down here, I can only imagine how heavy it is right next door.

6:15 PM:  Air is not fresh.

8:00 PM:  Air is not fresh.

8:30 PM:  A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air.

9:05 PM:  A very faint trace of some unknown smoke continues.

9:30 PM:  Strong wood and grass smoke and possibly other types of waste smoke.  The smoke is extremely heavy!  This air is unbreatheable.  I know asshole frequent burner likes to burn yard waste under cover of darkness.  But so does his neighbor.  I think when asshole frequent burner burns, his neighbor two doors down gets mad and retaliates by burning yard waste.  They should get together and burn at the same time so we can have a little more fresh air around these parts.  Asshole frequent burner's next door neighbor burns waste.  Next door to him is the yard waste burner.  Three homes in a row.  That's what North St. Paul is like. 

10:45 PM:  Strong wood and waste smoke continues.  Even with all the windows closed we can smell the smoke seeping in.  There is no escaping the smoke pollution in this nightmare city.  North St. Paul sucks!  Horrible place to live!

Midnight:  A very faint wood smoke continues after midnight.

Saturday 05/05/2012 Air Pollution

There was no real smoke this evening.  The air was not fresh, something undetectable was in it.  It was raining at 2:15 PM with a thunderstorm shortly after.  The rain stopped by 4:30 PM.  There was no more rain for the duration of the evening but some thunder around 2 AM.  The evening temperature was 57 degrees at 7:30 PM.  A little cool for bonfires.  But not too cool to burn on Friday.  The rain must have made the ground too wet.

Friday 05/04/2012 Air Pollution

We were treated to some smoke from burning yard waste ahead of the rain this evening.  Don't you enjoy smelling burning grass inside your home?

3:55 PM:  Very faint grass smoke.  72 degrees, cloudy, storms are rolling into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.  This smoke pollution came and went.

4:50 PM:  Very faint to faint grass smoke.  It comes and goes.  It isn't enough to close the windows yet.

6:23 PM:  No smoke.  A few drops of rain fell then stopped.

6:45 PM:  No smoke.  Light rain at this time.

There was no more smoke pollution this evening.

Thursday 05/03/2012 Air Pollution

Wood and yard waste smoke filled our air this evening.  Pretty much normal for North St. Paul, MN.

5:49 PM:  Very faint grass smoke coming in the windows at this time.  There is an illegal yard waste burner out there somewhere.  78 degrees, breezy.

6:12 PM:  Faint grass smoke coming in the windows.  It comes and goes with the breeze.  Time to close the windows!

7:00 PM:  Light grass smoke.  The yard waste smoke is getting stronger.

7:45 PM:  Light wood smoke.

8:10 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke.  72 degrees.

11:30 PM:  Very faint wood smoke is in the air at this time.  That makes about six hours of wood or yard waste smoke in our air this evening.  Do you want to live in a city like this?

Wednesday 05/02/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening.  A miracle?  It's hard to say as it looked like it might rain.  I did not record anything about rain other than a thunderstorm warning for south of the Twin Cities.  It was 79 degrees and mostly cloudy at 5 PM.  Dark clouds covered the southern sky by 8 PM.  It was a good evening for fresh air.  The air was perfumed with the delightful aroma of flower blossoms. 

Tuesday 05/01/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke tonight due to bad weather.  It was 70 degrees, mostly cloudy and windy at 5 PM with the weather forecast calling for a chance of rain.  It was raining by 9:30 PM with a thunderstorm.

Monday 04/30/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening.  It was a little cool.  The temperature at 5:15 PM was 55 degrees. It was a nice evening if you enjoy clean air.

Sunday 04/29/2012 Air Pollution

There was no smoke pollution this evening due to rain and a cool temperature.  It was 56 degrees at 6 PM and light rain was falling by 10 PM. 

Saturday 04/28/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening.  Weather conditions were unfavorable for burning.  The official high temperature in the Twin Cities for this date was 51 degrees.  Not many bonfires happen when it is that cool.  There was no fireplace burning evidently. 

Friday 04/27/2012 Air Pollution

It was another smoky evening in North St. Paul  The chance of rain in the weather forecast was not enough to prevent people from burning.

6:30 PM:  The air is not fresh at this time.  Whatever is in it is not strong enough to determine what it is.  56 degrees and cloudy.

6:55 PM:  Faint wood smoke at this time.  There is a wood burner out there somewhere.  What often happens in North St. Paul is when rain approaches people rush out to burn yard waste before it arrives.  Close the windows!

7:35 PM:  Light wood smoke at this time.

8:00 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  The wood smoke pollution keeps getting heavier.

9:22 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke continues.  That's close to three hours of smoky air already this evening.  Rain drops are starting to fall thank goodness.

10:00 PM:  No smoke.

There was no more smoke this evening because of the rain.

Thursday 04/26/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening.  It was a little cool for bonfires. When the evening temperature is below 70 degrees less people are burning.  55 degrees at 5:15 PM.

Wednesday 04/25/2012 Air Pollution

There was only a trace of wood smoke in the air this evening.  Not much, but enough to smell it.  I expected much smokier air than this as warm as it was.

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  73 degrees, mostly cloudy.

9:30 PM:  A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air at this time.  Somewhere off in the distance a bonfire is burning. There was not much more smoke after this.

Tuesday 04/24/2012 Air Pollution

It was a miracle evening of fresh air!  There was no wood or yard waste smoke polluting our air.  I felt certain there was going to be burning tonight with as beautiful of an evening as we were given.  But there was none.  Sometimes we get lucky in North St. Paul.  Not often.  It was 71 degrees at 4:15 PM, sunny, and beautiful.  Every evening should be like this. 

Monday 04/23/2012 Air Pollution

After last night's heavy smoke from waste burning, we deserved a break from North St. Paul's regular air pollution.  There was no wood or any other type of smoke this evening.  The air was not fresh.  Something was in it, but not strong enough to determine what it was or present much of a nuisance.  It was 63 degrees and sunny at 5:30 PM.  A nice spring evening.

Sunday 04/22/2012 Air Pollution

We were treated to heavy smoke from burning waste this evening.  Burning plastic and what smelled like burning oil or some other type of chemical substance filled the air. 

6PM:  No smoke.

8:40 PM:  Light to moderate wood and grass smoke.  It's pretty smoky outside from illegal yard waste burning.  What people often do is start a bonfire and rake their grass clippings into the firepit.  It happens often here in nightmare North St. Paul.  55 degrees.

9:15 PM:  Moderate very stinky wood and possibly grass smoke.  It is very smoky outside.  You don't want to breathe this heavy North St. Paul air pollution!

9:27 PM:  Moderate to strong burning plastic and possibly some other types of waste.  People burn anything they can get their hands on here in North St. Paul.  If it is combustible, it gets burned in this town. 50 degrees. 

9:50 PM:  Moderate to strong chemical smell.  It smells like burning motor oil or something.  It is possible someone is burning empty bottles of motor oil. 

10:32 PM:  Moderate to strong wood and waste smoke continues.  I cannot describe how terrible this smoke smells.  I have no idea what types of toxic waste are being burned and are entering the homes and lungs of everyone around here.

Midnight:  Moderate waste smoke continues. 

The waste smoke continued after midnight with a light waste smoke in the air at 1 AM.  That makes four hours of smoke from burning waste tonight.  This is how we live in North St. Paul.  Do you want to live in a city like this?

Saturday 04/21/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening due to poor weather.  It was cold and rainy.  The temperature at 6 PM was 45 degrees.  It was raining by 8:30 PM.

Friday 04/20/2012 Air Pollution

Another evening of smoky, polluted air in the city of North St. Paul, MN.

4:40 PM:  Light wood smoke at this time.  Asshole frequent burner is burning.  55 degrees and sunny.  A pleasant spring afternoon if not for the wood smoke pollution fouling our air.

5:45 PM:  No smoke at this time.  Asshole frequent burner burns for hours at a time.  He can't be finished yet.  I will assume the breeze shifted direction. 

6:00 PM:  No smoke. 

7:00 PM:  No smoke. 

8:30 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke.  It's smoky outside.  It's a different type of wood being burned from earlier.  It could be a fireplace with a temperature this cool.  Or a bonfire. 

Thursday 04/19/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening due to unfavorable weather conditions.  It was 43 degrees, cloudy and wet at 5 PM.  A tornado watch was issued around 7 PM. 

Wednesday 04/18/2012 Air Pollution

No smoke this evening.  It was 63 degrees and sunny at 5 PM.  A nice if cool spring day.

Tuesday 04/17/2012 Air Pollution

I did not record anything for this day.  I will say there was no smoke in the air.  The high temperature in the Twin Cities was 58 degrees.  Bonfires are uncommon at temperatures this cool.

Monday 04/16/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening.  Unseasonably cool temperatures kept the burners at bay.  It was 41 degrees at 6 PM.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Updating underway.....

After forgoing regular updates for over two months I am now getting caught up.  While I did not update the blog as I should have, I did keep notes about the horrible air pollution conditions we endured on our property here in North St. Paul  I will update a half month of data a day for the next few days then reply on the blog to some emails I received including a couple from other residents of this city.  I am pleased to see more people are reading this blog.  There are some regular readers, too.  To all those who sent me emails, thank you.  Whether you agree with me or not, I like to hear from people, especially if they live in North St. Paul.  I like reading encouraging words from others around the country who are dealing with similar wood smoke pollution problems in their communities as well. 

I've now got 390 Facebook likes.  I would like to see more.  So if you think clean air is important and you have a Facebook account, please click the Like button.        

Burning wood, burning grass, burning plastic and other wastes, I'll update the blog with details in the next few days.  Just a normal way of life in North St. Paul, Minnesota.  Peak burning season is upon us.  It is only going to get worse here on out.  

Do you want to live in a city like this?

Sunday 04/15/2012 Air Pollution

No wood smoke pollution this evening.  The Minneapolis-St. Paul area was under a tornado watch at 5:45 PM.  The temperature at the time was 73 degrees.  We had some light rain earlier around 3:30 PM.  The weather was unfavorable for recreational air polluting.

Saturday 04/14/2012 Air Pollution

Extremely heavy wood smoke tonight.  The wood smoke was so heavy we could smell it seeping into the house with all the windows closed.  This air is unfit for human consumption.  I stand in disbelief that the assholes who run this stupid city force us to breathe heavily polluted air like this.  You are an asshole Bob Bruton.  You, too, Jan Walczak.     

5:20 PM:  No smoke.  72 cloudy, rain is forecast for later tonight.

7:00 PM:  Very faint wood smoke.  The bonfires are starting.

8:30 PM:  Moderate wood smoke.  The air is very smoky at this time.  You don't want to breathe this toxic air if you can avoid it.

9:45 PM:  Moderately strong wood smoke continues.  It's going to be a long smoky hell of a night in North St. Paul, MN.

10:05 PM: Strong wood smoke.  This air pollution is inhumane!  It doesn't get much worse than this.  Last check of the evening.  Why bother checking the air when the air pollution has already reached the maximum level on the scale?  North St. Paul sucks!

Friday 04/13/2012 Air Pollution

A Friday evening without wood smoke polluting our air?  The weather must be unfavorable.  The temperature was 49 degrees around 7 PM.  Too cool for the pyromaniacs in this town.

Thursday 04/12/2012 Air Pollution

This evening's cool temperature did not prevent burning from polluting our precious air.

5:00 PM:  No smoke.  61 degrees.

7:55 PM:  Air is not fresh.

8:40 PM:  A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air at this time.

9:45 PM:  Very faint trace of wood smoke continues.  It isn't much.  I can smell it just enough to detect its presence.

11:00 PM:  A faint smoke of some unknown type is in the air.  I don't know what it is, but it is stronger than before.  Last check of the evening.

Wednesday 04/11/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke in the air this evening due to a cool temperature.  It was 51 degrees at 6 PM.  Not many people have bonfires when the temperature is this cool. 

Tuesday 04/10/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke in the air this evening.  The temperature was too cool for bonfires. It was 43 degrees at 5 PM. 

Monday 04/09/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke in the air, but there was a terrible burning rubber smell.  Is someone burning waste?

4:35 PM:  A faint smell of something like burning rubber is in the air at this time.  44 degrees.

6:00 PM:  Faint burning rubber sort of smell continues.

8:00 PM:  Fresh air.

There was no wood smoke this evening.

Sunday 04/08/2012 Air Pollution

It was a smoky night here where we live in North St. Paul.  A normal polluted night.

6:00 PM:  No smoke.  60 degrees, sunny.

7:15 PM:  No smoke.

8:30 PM:  No smoke.

10:00 PM:  Moderate wood smoke.  It is very smoky right now.  Last check of the evening.

Saturday 04/07/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke in the air this evening due to a cool temperature.  It was 55 degrees at 6:30 PM in the Twin Cities.  It isn't often we get a Saturday night free of wood smoke pollution in North St. Paul, MN.

Friday 04/06/2012 Air Pollution

There was more smoke from burning grass than wood tonight.

5:20 PM:  No smoke.  Sunny, 60 degrees.

5:54 PM:  Faint to light smoke from burning grass.

7:35 PM:  Air is not fresh at this time.  Something is in it.

9:00 PM:  No smoke.

11:45 PM:  A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air.  Last check of the evening.

Thursday 04/05/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening due to a cool temperature.  It was 56 degrees around 7 PM.  Bonfire polluters burn less when the evening temperature is below 70.

Wednesday 04/04/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening.  The temperature was on the cool side.  There are not many people having bonfires when temperatures are this cool.  It was 61 degrees around 7 PM.  A nice evening if you enjoy fresh air.

Tuesday 04/03/2012 Air Pollution

Another evening of smoky air in North St. Paul.

7:00 PM:  No smoke.  64 degrees.

8:00 PM:  No smoke.

9:00 PM:  No smoke.

10:00 PM:  No smoke.

10:35 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke at this time.  There it is. 

10:40 PM:  Light wood smoke.  It has gotten heavier in the past five minutes.  This was the last check of the evening.

Monday 04/02/2012 Air Pollution

Smoky air for a little while this evening. 

6:00 PM:  Light to moderate wood smoke at this time.  Nobody around us is burning.  69 degrees.

7:15 PM:  No smoke.

There was no more smoke in the air this evening but the air was not fresh.  Around 11:30 PM we had some rain from a thunderstorm.  There will be no late night burning tonight.

Sunday 04/01/2012 Air Pollution

12:45 AM:  Light to moderate wood smoke at this time.  Bonfire?  Fireplace?  It could be from both.

There was no wood smoke this evening.  It was a beautiful evening of fresh air.  A rarity in the city of North St. Paul, MN, when the weather is this nice.  The temperature was 66 degrees at 6 PM and it was sunny.  We were treated to a beautiful sunset this evening and were able to be outside to enjoy it and the fresh air.

Saturday 03/31/2012 Air Pollution

It's quite a sight to see people standing around a smoky bonfire dressed in coats and gloves or with hands stuffed in pockets to keep warm.  We saw that this evening at a house nearby.  We saw two bonfires and one person illegally burning yard waste within a quarter mile of home this evening. 

6:00 PM:  The air is not fresh.  Something is in it.  49 degrees and cloudy.

8:00 PM:  Not fresh air continues.

8:25 PM:  A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air at this time.  It could be from the bonfire burning nearby with people dressed in coats around the bonfire.

9:40 PM:  Very faint to faint wood smoke.

10:15 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke.

10:45 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke continues.

The smoke got heavier after midnight.

Friday 03/30/2012 Air Pollution

Our streak of smoke-free air ended. 

6:30 PM:  Light to moderate grass smoke at this time.  Somewhere someone is illegally burning yard waste.  49 degrees and cloudy. 

7:30 PM:  The air is not fresh at this time.  Whatever is in the air is not strong enough to determine what it is.

8:00 PM:  Faint wood smoke at this time.  It could be a bonfire or a fireplace.

9:45 PM:  Faint to light wood smoke.  46 degrees. 

11:30 PM:  Faint wood smoke continues.  Last check of the evening.

Thursday 03/29/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening due to a cool temperature and rain.  The was 58 degrees at 6 PM.  There was some light rain around 9 PM or so.

Wednesday 03/28/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke in the air this evening.  It was a little cool for burning.  The temperature was 54 degrees at 5 PM.  There are less bonfires when the evening temperature is below 70 degrees or above 85.

Tuesday 03/27/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening.  The temperature was a little cool at 66 degrees at 5 PM and it was very windy.  The sky looked as if it might rain but there was none forecast.  A nice evening for fresh air. 

Monday 03/26/2012 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke polluting our air this evening due to a cool temperature and a little rain.  The temperature at 5 PM was 40 degrees and we had some drizzle later in the evening.