Delaware board steamed about burning ban

‘An infringement on personal property rights’

By TOM KANE

HORTONVILLE, NY - The Town of Delaware wants to keep its burn barrels.

The town board is on record in opposition to the proposed state-wide ban on burning that is being put forward by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The reasons for its opposition, which were outlined in a letter to the DEC, were many.

There’s the landfill. “Even with recycling, the increased garbage resulting from residents having to dispose of papers in their trash rather than burn-barrel them will be substantial,” the board said.

Then, there’s the common perception that many residents burn table scraps and plastics in their barrels. “This is not true,” the letter said. On a few occasions when this happens, neighbors have complained and town officials have dealt with each occurrence on an individual basis.

Next, there’s the issue of enforcement. Enforcement will fall to the local code enforcement officer. “The state has imposed enough unfunded mandates on code officers and adding another time-consuming and burdensome job is not feasible,” the board said.

“We feel it is an infringement on personal property rights,” was the final emphatic sentence of the letter, signed by town supervisor James Scheutzow.

The DEC on the other hand says it has good reason for the ban. The main reasons are to reduce pollution and wild-fires, to safeguard public health and safety, to protect the air quality and to avoid the spread of “smoky cocktails” of arsenic, carbon monoxide, lead and other toxic chemicals in the air.

“This has to stop,” said DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis in a recent statement.

The proposed ban does allow some exceptions, he said, including campfires, selective bonfires, fire training exercises and specialized agriculture burns.

In other town business at its meeting on June 18, the board rejected a request from New York Regional Interconnection for waivers on a number of town ordinances that limit or hinder the erection of electric high-tension wires.