Warm Homes - Clean Air Project: Workplan

A community project to improve air quality and energy efficiency in Oakridge, Oregon

Oakridge is located in Lane County, OR. about 45 miles east of Eugene - Springfield in the Cascade mountain range. The population is 3,680.

Background
Oakridge is a small western Oregon town with a seasonal air quality problem.The climate is prone to wintertime temperature inversions, low wind speeds and poor atmospheric dispersion. Oakridge has no industry, no natural gas, higher than average electric rates, few living wage jobs and is surrounded by forestland where firewood is inexpensive and readily available. These factors lead to poor wintertime air quality in Oakridge that is primarily caused by residential wood burning.

Current Situation
During the winter months, Oakridge air quality is often threatened due to high concentrations of smoke from woodstoves settling on the valley floor of the city. While Oakridge meets the current air quality standards, on occasion concentrations rise above the 24- hour threshold. Recent health studies have indicated that the current EPA standard for fine particulate is not adequate to protect the public health. EPA is in the process of determining a new standard for fine particulate (PM2.5) that is expected to be set at 25-40 micrograms per cubic meter. The new standard, even if adopted at the high end of the range, will place Oakridge in violation of federal air quality standards. Oakridge currently has the highest level of fine particulate measured in Oregon during the winter months.

Respirable Particulate Matter ( PM2.5 ) concentrations in Oregon have met the current 24-hour health standards for the last several years:

The graph above demonstrates the success to date for Oakridge. The large drop from 1995 is a direct result of a woodstove replacement project in Oakridge in 1994. (click graph for larger view)

Progress to Date
Oakridge has made significant progress over the last few years in reducing particulate emissions. Oakridge has not violated the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for a number of years. The community airshed is much healthier than it was in the 1980s. Particulate emissions have been cut in half. Several programs have contributed to the success of the effort so far:

• 1993-4 - The City of Oakridge administered a grant to replace old woodstoves. More than 100 uncertified woodstoves were replaced with new EPA certified stoves.
• 1990s to present - The Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) administers a daily home wood heating advisory for the Oakridge community. LRAPA provides a daily 'red', 'yellow', or 'green' advisory to inform residents if burning is allowed on any given day. 'Red' means burning is prohibited, 'yellow' means it's highly cautioned against, and 'green' means air quality is good and burning is allowed.
• 2003 - The City of Oakridge adopted an ordinance that made the advisory mandatory. Under this program, citizens can obtain an exemption from the mandatory program if their only source of heat is wood, or if they meet economic need guidelines.
• 2003 - LRAPA administers a public education campaign to encourage burning dry wood and to follow the home wood heating advisory. Yearly drive-by neighborhood surveys have been completed each year to measure compliance with the advisories. Results of the surveys suggest that compliance is sporadic at best. As one tool to encourage use of dry wood, LRAPA provides free tarps to citizens of Oakridge to cover their wood.
• 2004 - LRAPA installs an automated telephone calling system to inform Oakridge when air quality starts to deteriorate and when burning is not advised or is prohibited. LRAPA uses the system as one way of notifying residents of the daily advisories. LRAPA also maintains an advisory line they can call (746-4328), and provides information throughout the media outlets. About 55% of residents believe the program is valuable and should continue.

• Of the 1,200 households in Oakridge, approximately 700 (45%) have woodstoves.
• Ninety percent of the people with woodstoves use them, with about 50 percent of them burning more than two cords of wood a year.
• About 60 percent of the people burn daily during the winter.
• About 35 percent of the stoves are old, uncertified stoves.
• About 95 percent of the residents say their wood is covered and dry.
• Nearly 80 percent of the residents say they age their wood a year or more.
• About 50 percent of residents have an annual family income of less than $25,000.
• Those with earnings over $35,000 seem to follow the advisory more often than those making less than $35,000.
• Around 95 percent of the residents are aware of the home wood heating advisory program.
• LRAPA has a listing of the names and addresses of the 80 residents who currently have home wood heating exemptions.
• The city of Oakridge has a weekly newspaper, The Dead Mountain Echo, and a local radio station ran by high school students.

OUTREACH STRATEGIES

Outreach vehicles

• Mailers in heat bills
• Posters in store windows announcing the kick-off meeting
• Flyer in Dead Mt. Echo
• Store displays
• Notices on local reader boards announcing the kick-off meeting
• Presentations on request to Oakridge groups/clubs
• Door hangers with information about program, where to get application forms
• Kick-off meeting. Scheduled for Saturday, January 28, 2006, 9:30 am to noon at Middlefork Ranger Station

• Stay Warm
• Be Safe
• Save Money

Pyramid of health effects
Cost comparison of old wood stove vs. new stove including a comparison of loan costs with heat cost savings
Factoid: replacing 20 non-certified stoves with 20 certified stoves eliminates one ton of PM_2.5 from the local air per year
For displays: photo of old and new stoves operating side-by-side showing reduction of smoke