Nighttime Burn
on Proposed New Site Raises Questions
The Big Burn
On Saturday, 15 December 2007, Mr. Quintin Douglas began burning
two large piles of brush, dead vegetation, and debris he had cleared
at the Douglas Auto Wrecking Yard relocation site. The fires burned
for more than five days and nights, finally smoldering out on
the following Thursday morning.
While Mr. Douglas, apparently acting on behalf of the county,
did obtain a Special Use Burn Permit (#SU07-043), the burns violated
at least eight of the fourteen Permit Conditions; the fires burned
at night, were usually unattended, and contained assorted construction
debris including concrete.
Several neighbors reported the fires to the Yakima Regional Clean
Air Authority. Mr. Carl Brookshire from YRCAA visited the site
on Monday, 17 December. Upon Mr. Brookshire's departure from the
site, neighbors observed Mr. Douglas adding two dumptruck loads
of fuel to the fire. Mr. Brookshire later acknowledged that he
observed restricted (some hazardous) materials in the burn piles
and that the fires had continued overnight.
Ultimately, the YRCAA issued Mr. Douglas only a warning
letter despite an investigator having observed in person a blatantly
illegal burn. A few short weeks later, a 50-acre fire occured
in Toppenish. Cause: overnight burning and failure to monitor
the fires.
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Here are excerpts from the agency's letter to Mr. Douglas:
"Our Agency received two complaints from concerned citizens
about a burn that occurred December 15, 2007. While investigating
the burn, I observed two apparent permit condition violations.
One was burning during non-daylight hours; the other was burning
prohibited materials. In this case the prohibited material was
steel pipe, and sheet metal which you claimed was in the pile
before you added to it.
If any permit condition violations re-occur or if additional
violations are verified on your Donald/Wapato Rd. property, a
Notice Of Violation and possible Civil Penalty could be assessed."
Note use of the words "your...property." The
property belongs to Yakima County, not to Mr. Douglas. It could
be argued that YRCAA had no right to issue a Special Burn Permit
to Mr. Douglas.
What You Can Do
Contact the board members of the Yakima Regional Clear Air Authority
and let them know what you think!
Yakima Regional Clean Air Authority Board Members
- Two representatives of the Yakima County Commissioners: Mike
Leita and Rand
Elliott, (Yakima County Commissioners), Rm 232,
Yakima County Courthouse, 128 N. 2nd St, Yakima, WA 98901, (509)
574-1500.
- One Large City representative: Bill
Lover (Yakima City Councilman), Yakima City Hall,
129 N. 2nd St,Yakima, WA 98901, (509) 575-6050
- One Small City representative: Robert
L. Jones, Vice Chair (Mayor, City of Selah), City
of Selah, 115 W. Naches Ave, Selah, WA 98942, (509) 698-7328
- One Member-At-Large: Tom Gasseling, Board
Chairman (local businessman), (509) 877-3698.
Contact Information provided by the Public Information Officer
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