Efforts to decrease wood burning in Portland not exactly catching fire
Efforts to decrease the use of wood stoves and wood-burning fireplaces in Portland seem to have had little effect, according to preliminary results from a new state survey.
Efforts to decrease wood burning in Portland not exactly catching fireThey produce more harmful particulate matter than diesel trucks and cigarette smoke. They release carbon dioxide and other toxic chemicals that can lead to dire health and climate outcomes. Yet efforts to decrease the use of wood stoves and wood-burning fireplaces in Portland seem to have had little effect. Preliminary results from a new state survey show more people across the state burned wood as compared to a 2021 survey. The wood-burning increase is especially pronounced in urban areas where people are using more wood fireplaces, fireplace inserts, wood stoves and pellet stoves in single-family detached homes. There’s also a smaller increase in the use of wood stoves in single-family detached homes in rural areas, according to the data, obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. The reasons for the rise in burning could be many, state officials say, from the climbing costs of electricity and an increase in power outages to Oregon’s deep ties to the timber industry and easy-to-get and relatively cheap wood. Plus, people simply like the look and feel of fireplaces and wood stoves. The upturn is disheartening to public health officials in Multnomah County who for nearly six years have regulated wood burning, educated residents about its dangers and, more recently, have spent more than $1 million to help swap stoves and fireplaces for heat pumps. Wood burning is one of the leading sources of air pollution in Multnomah County during the winter heating season, said John Wasiutynski, the county’s Office of Sustainability director. “People don’t smell poison, they smell nostalgia,” Wasiutynski said. “But we can’t have clean air if we have wood burning.” Clearly, it’s hard to part people from the tradition, he said. An estimated 1% of Multnomah County’s 343,370 homes – or 3,434 households – use wood as their primary heat source, according to the DEQ.But that number doesn’t include the countless households that use wood as a secondary heat source or for pleasure, ambiance or aesthetic purposes, Wasiutynski said. The wood combustion survey, conducted every three years by Oregon State University in conjunction with the DEQ, offers a more complex picture of wood-burning trends. The survey asks a sampling of state residents whether they use wood-burning devices, what type and how much wood they burn. The data was collected last summer. Survey results are used to help develop a statewide emissions inventory of air pollutants, which the state submits to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a part of the National Emissions Inventory. WORSE THAN TRUCKS, CARS COMBINEDThere are compelling reasons to ditch heating with wood, public health officials say. The EPA says residential wood smoke emits more fine particulate matter – also called PM2.5 – than cars, diesel trucks, tractors and bulldozers combined and five times more than petroleum refineries, cement manufacturers and pulp and paper plants combined. The tiny airborne particles, which can be inhaled deep into the lungs, can cause or exacerbate serious health problems, including asthma, severe bronchitis, heart and lung disease and can lead to premature death, according to the American Lung Association. People over 65, children, pregnant women and those with existing lung or heart conditions are most at risk. Burning wood also releases volatile organic compounds – toxic gases that vaporize into the air – that can cause cancer and other adverse health effects, nitrogen oxides and cancer-causing benzene and formaldehyde, according to the EPA. The chemicals and the particulate matter degrade indoor air quality for the families that burn wood and also make the air outside sooty and stinky for countless neighbors. It’s especially dire on days with air stagnation and temperature inversions when warm air sits on top of cold air, causing pollution from the wood devices to stick close to the ground, Wasiutynski said.“If I had to choose, would I rather my neighbor idle a modern diesel truck in his yard or fire up his fireplace? I’m going to choose the diesel truck because it’s actually going to be less polluting,” he said. Though the EPA in 2018 declared that wood burning is “carbon neutral” – because trees die naturally and can be replanted to reabsorb carbon – that declaration was focused on the biomass industry that burns wood products for energy, including to produce wood pellets for stoves. Environmental groups have pushed back, saying wood smoke adds carbon dioxide, black carbon and methane to the air, pollutants that contribute significantly to climate change. Data from the state Department of Environmental Quality also shows that residential wood burning has a disproportionately harmful impact on Latino and Black residents in Oregon, Wasiutynski said. And newer or “eco-friendly” stoves, fireplaces and inserts certified to comply with higher emission standards aren’t necessarily that much cleaner. 10 states sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging its testing and certification program for home wood heaters is ineffective. APIn 2023, Oregon and nine other states sued the EPA, alleging both that the federal agency’s current standards aren’t good enough and that its wood-stove testing and certification program fails to ensure that new wood-burning stoves actually comply with the emission limits. In October, the EPA and the states reached a settlement, with the agency agreeing to reassess how it tests wood stoves and to propose new standards within a reasonable timeframe. Given the Trump administration’s priorities, it’s unlikely new standards will be proposed anytime soon, Wasiutynski said. RISE IN URBAN BURNINGThe increase in urban wood burning in the state survey indicates people may not know or care about the controversies over certified stoves. Chris Varley, a spokesperson with the DEQ’s air quality division, said the state agency is still analyzing the reasons behind the increase, including looking at whether the 2023-2024 winter just before data was collected was particularly cold and whether the rapid rise in electricity costs could have influenced the type of fuel people use to heat their homes. Varley said the state will continue to focus on educating residents about wood burning’s health impacts and helping them choose more efficient stoves or switching to heat pumps. “Awareness about the harms of wood burning is still just really slow to take hold in our consciousness,” he said. “We know wood smoke is bad and we want to do everything we can to help residents transition to cleaner alternatives.” Johnny Chen, the director of Oregon State’s Center for Marketing & Consumer Insights, said the survey has undergone some changes to make it more accurate and would need to be replicated in three years to more conclusively address whether Oregonians are burning more wood. Chen also said because the survey’s sampling procedure did a better job of capturing respondents from eastern Oregon than the previous survey, this could account for some of the rise in the number of people having a fireplace, a fireplace insert or a wood stove, as homes in that part of the state are more likely to have wood-burning heat sources. Additionally, said Chen, the 2021 survey was likely affected by COVID-19, as people spending more time at home may have altered their heating choices. The survey findings don’t come as a surprise to Wasiutynski, who attributes the rise in urban wood burning to more affluent people buying wood fireplaces and wood stoves. For some, the fire crackling and smell of wood burning seem to hold an almost primordial attraction. For others, it’s a way to recreate a cozy or romantic feel, he said.Then there’s also a new trend, driven by extreme weather – the ice storms in recent years – of wood burning increasingly used as an emergency backup, a way to keep the house warm during power outages, he said. For survey respondents who indicated they had an alternative heating option, wood was the most common source. That may not be a bad thing, Wasiutynski said, as long as people are using the wood-burning devices once or twice a year, that they’re using them properly and that they’re aware their fireplaces and stoves – no matter how modern or efficient – are still polluting and harmful to their and their neighbors’ health. “People have a perception that wood burning is green,” Wasiutynski said. “It’s not. That’s a bitter pill for Oregonians to swallow.” SPREADING THE WORDThe county has been trying to spread that message since 2018 when it passed an ordinance to prevent wood burning on the worst air quality days. Multnomah County issues mandatory wood burning restrictionsThe measure exempts low-income households and those using wood burning as their primary source of heat, for food preparation, for ceremonial reasons or for emergencies such as power outages.In November 2022, the county launched a wood-burning exchange pilot program to replace wood-burning devices with energy-efficient heat pumps. The program focused on neighborhoods most affected by wood smoke and residents with limited means to change their home heating systems.Over the past two years, the program replaced 127 wood-burning devices in 115 homes (some homes had more than one wood-burning source) at a cost of $1.4 million. A crew from Advance Design Build installs heat pump infrastructure at the home of a Southeast Portland family that has burned wood for heat for decades. The heat pump came courtesy of Multnomah County's wood stove exchange program. Austin De Dios The Oregonian/OregonLiveThe funding came via Oregon’s Community Heat Pump Deployment Program, a $500,000 federal grant through the American Rescue Plan Act and additional grants from the state Department of Environmental Quality. The county funded a position that administered the program. But the state and federal money are drying up. Given the county’s fiscal woes, it’s likely the wood stove exchange program will be discontinued, Wasiutynski said. Portland nonprofits may be able to continue the work, though the details are yet to be finalized and other cities in Multnomah County won’t be able to participate, he said. Wasiutynski said he hopes the county and the state will continue to educate residents about the harms of wood burning. “The climate crisis is making exposure to smoke from wood, due to forest fires, more common in the summer and fall, making reductions in wintertime emissions associated with residential wood burning all the more important,” he said. — Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
