Greater Vancouver Regional District
4330 Kingsway, Burnaby, British Columbia. Canada V5H 4G8 Engineering & Oper

Engineering: 432-6450 Forestry: 432-6410 Operations & Maintenance: 432-6405 Pollution Control: 432-6420

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

WATER & WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
OUTDOOR BURNING IN THE GVRD
MAY 14, 1987

REPORT:

Qpen burning of a variety of waste materials has occurred in all lower
mainland municipalities in past years with control being exercised by
Municipal and Regional authorities. ‘This report describes the types of
material for which open burning is the prevalent method of disposal and the

current situation in mmicipalities, together with the direction in which the
Regional District is moving.

(a) Domestic Backyard Burning .
The semi-annual practices by homeowners of caring for trees and shrubs ‘results
in the generation of significant amounts of prunings, cuttings, ete? which®. -
require some means of disposal. Historically, mmnicipalities in the District
have authorized periods in the Spring and Fall’ of each year ‘for burning such’ '
wastes on site. “Provisions for administering this practice are -Specified ‘in’
municipal Fire Bylaws and are mainly oriented toward the prevention of damage
to property by fire. oT

The concern of the District’s Pollution Control staff centres on the impact
this practice has on regional, local and neighbourhood air quality. Actual
impacts can vary considerably depending on meteorological conditions, timing
of municipal burning periods, and the extent to which homeowners take
advantage of the opportunity to burn. The nature of these wastes and the low
combustion temperatures achieved can result in very dense smoke emissions
which create health and nuisance concerns.

In 1982, Dr. Johr: Blatherwick, ina report to the Simon Fraser Union Board of
Health, recommended that Spring and Fall burning periods be eliminated.
To support this conclusion, he cited the potential health effects of emissions
on people with chronic respiratory disease and stated that "at least 10% of
the general population have some degree of airway hyper-reactivity which
places them at increased risk from a wide variety of airborne irritants, but
particularly to complex mixtures of pollutants such as smoke". The health
effects due to inhalation of fine particulate matter (smoke) is becoming
increasingly important and air pollution control strategies in both Canada and
the United States include establishment of ambient air quality objectives for
this parameter.
The attached Table illustrates current practices of municipalities in the
District. Clearly, there is a trend toward the elimination of backyard
burning, with the City of Vancouver being the first to implement such a ban in
1983. The Districts of Burnaby and North Vancouver subsequently adopted
Similar bans and, beginning this year the City of New Westminster no lorger
allows open burning to occur. Other municipalities continue to authorize
Spring and Fall burning periods.

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