Government agencies are helping certain homeowners in Pierce County replace inefficient wood stoves and fireplace inserts in an attempt to improve air quality.
Tacoma and much of the county is one of only 32 areas in the U.S. that don’t meet certain federal health standards for air quality. That puts communities at risk for federal sanctions, according to the county’s Planning and Land Services Department.
To help prevent that and reduce the amount of potentially health-damaging particulate that wood fires send into the air, new funding programs totaling $1 million are available to upgrade wood-burning devices at no cost to homeowners. If you burn wood to heat your home, live in the Tacoma-Pierce County Smoke Reduction Zone and are low-income, you’re eligible, officials said. Buy-back programs are also available.
By leaving your old flame behind and getting into a cleaner heat, you can improve how you heat your home and help keep the air on the safe side, officials said. Wood smoke is a potential health hazard.
More information is available at www.airsafepiercecounty.org and (253)798-4540.
Information also is available from Puget Sound Clean Air Agency at (800)552-3565 and woodstove@pscleanair.org, and from the wood stove program customer support at Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department at (253)798-4540.
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, a regional agency chartered by the state in 1967, monitors air quality in Pierce, Kitsap, King and Snohomish counties.