I got a couple emails this week. One was from city manager Wally Wysopal asking me to call him so he can assist me in a "productive manner". I don't know if Wally reads this blog, but if he does I would like to thank him for contacting me. There is nothing he can do to help. City ordinance allows recreational burning from 4 PM - 11 PM all seven days of the week. As long as burning and the pollution that it generates is allowed, the air is going to continue to be smoky almost every evening. It will continue to get worse every year, too, as more people hop on the recreational air pollution bandwagon. Only the city council can provide relief from this terrible wood smoke pollution. Only they have the power to restrict it or end it completely (my preference).
If I wanted to be a jerk, I could get some wood and burn every day from 4:30 - 11:00 PM and it would be entirely legal to do so. It is my right under the existing city ordinance. It is tempting to do that to seek requital against the three or four burners on my block. But everyone around me, including some elderly neighbors who are in the final years of their lives and in declining health, would suffer. People blocks downwind would suffer as well. I cannot in good conscience assault my innocent neighbors with wood smoke pollution in an act of revenge against the few burners around us. The city council has no such conscience. Nice guys do finish last, unfortunately.
I got another email from a regular Pennsylvania reader who is "addicted" to this blog. Hello in Pennsylvania! I'm glad you enjoy our tales of woe from this polluted nightmare of a city. We've had one day without wood smoke out of the past eight days. That's about as good as it gets around here. It is Saturday and I'm sure it will be another smoky evening. I wish you the best of luck in your battle against wood smoke pollution out there. Breathing smoky air every day is misery. People who aren't bombarded with wood smoke pollution every day won't understand how it destroys the quality of life. There is nothing trivial about air pollution so bad it makes your sinuses burn.