Burning leaves and yard debris was a task Ed Stephens usually reserved for weekends at his Clayton County home.
Now, he has to pay someone to do the work because Clayton no longer allows residents living in unincorporated areas to burn on the weekends. The new rule - one of the more restrictive ones in metro Atlanta - has Stephens fuming.
“I’ve got a pile of rubbish that’s been in my yard waiting to be burned. It’s got rats, spiders. I don’t know if it’s any snakes in there. I’ve got rodents I’ve never had before - all because y’all want to play games with our lives,” Stephens told the county commissioners prior to their vote on a compromise. “I’m 62. I don’t feel like I should have to beg for the right to burn my limbs and leaves in my yard at my home that I’ve been living in for 35 years.”
Outdoor burning has been a long-standing ritual in rural areas, a way of getting rid of debris without much cost or fuss. But the ritual is clashing with modern suburbia as more homes are wedged closer together and people fight against the health hazards.
“It’s not just Clayton, people are passionate about this issue,” said James Eason, a unit manager with the Air Protection Branch of the Environmental Protection Division.
The uproar in Clayton has grown more intense, however as the clock is ticking on the amount of time they have left to burn before the statewide ban kicks in. Georgia bans outdoor burning between May 1 and Sept. 30 because ozone levels can reach unhealthy levels during that time. No yard or land-clearing debris can be burned then.
The open burning ban has been in place since 2005. There is a year-round burning ban on household garbage. Georgians can burn at any day during the burning season which runs from Oct. 1 to April 30, if they’re not prohibited by local ordinances or the Georgia Forestry Commission. There is a year-round burning ban on household garbage.
Clayton residents have been fighting over their local ban since October when - bowing to health concerns - Clayton officials killed outdoor burning altogether save for grills and residential fire pits. The permanent ban ignited a bitter disagreements that led to name-calling at recent commission meetings.
It also forced commissioners to seek a compromise that still does not sit well with those who oppose the ban.
“It’s unfair,” Jerry Garber of Morrow told commissioners. “…and during the months burning is allowed, there is a significant number of days that burning not allowed due to unfairable weather conditions. If you restrict weekend burning that further decreases the days we’re allowed to burn.”
But supporters of the ban said it boils down to health.
Claudia De Guzman recently told commissioners that fumes from outdoor burning get in her lungs and feel like “an elephant standing on my chest. I get panic attacks.” Her husband, Peter, noted that Georgia has about 260,000 children and 500,000 adults with respiratory problems.
“Change is hard and people naturally resist it,” Peter De Guzman said, recalling early resistance to seat belts and smoking bans. “Clayton has the opportunity to be first in what is bound to be a state-mandated burn ban. Please make the burn ban permanent.”
Commissioner Felecia Franklin-Warner noted that other southside counties - Fayette, Coweta and Henry - do not have burn bans nor do they limit burning periods.
“I don’t think we have substantive information to take away a person’s right to burn,” she said.
With two months left to burn before a statewide ban takes effect, opponents to Clayton’s ban implored commissioners to rethink their position on weekday burnings only. They asked officials to adhere to the state law but commissioners held fast to their decision voting 3-2. Franklin-Warner and Chairman Jeff Turner voted against.
In addition to the weekday-only burning, residents with medical conditions can get an exemption that would prevent burning within a quarter-mile radius of their home.
The ban was initiated by Commissioner Michael Edmondson who responded at a recent board meeting to the repeated outcry against the ban.
“I don’t think it’s reasonable for someone to be able to burn seven days a week and my children have to breathe smoke,” Edmondson said. “What’s the balance? They can burn five days and my children can play two days (without smoke). I think that’s a reasonable balance. That came from me and that’s why it exists.”
Edmondson did not return calls for this story.
To learn more about the state’s outdoor burn policy and to see a map of counties who must adhere to burn bans, go here.
CLAYTON
COWETA
GWINNETT
Monday-Saturday during daylight hours. No burning on Sunday.
HENRY
Monday-Saturday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. No burning on Sunday.
Source: Counties.
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