BUTTE – Butte-Silver Bow Health Department officials will attend the upcoming Greeley School Neighborhood Community Coalition meeting to discuss Butte-Silver Bow’s new Woodstove Change-Out Program and its role in the Greeley School Neighborhood. The coalition meeting is at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29 at the Race Track Fire Hall.
Recent national studies have identified wood smoke as a major component of ambient PM-2.5, or ambient fine particulate matter less than or equal to 2.5 microns in diameter. This is especially true in the northern Rocky Mountains, where older model woodstove use is common throughout many communities.
The Butte-Silver Bow Woodstove Change-out Program is the result of local studies prompted by long-standing Greeley neighborhood concerns about air quality. In 2013, the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department commissioned two studies regarding the Greeley airshed. These studies, conducted by Tony Ward, Ph.D., of the University of Montana, and Kumar Ganesan, Ph.D., of Montana Tech respectively, showed that smoke produced from old, inefficient woodstoves in the Greeley Neighborhood are the primary cause of intermittent poor air quality in the neighborhood.
Recommendations from those studies included development of a strategy to reduce contribution of PM emissions from wood burning, particularly near the Greeley School site and subsequently across the Butte Valley. The Woodstove Change-Out Program is one strategy the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department is using to improve air quality. Additional Information contained in these studies stated that the EPA and the general public need to be informed that the Greeley School air quality monitoring site established by the Health Department, records the highest particulate concentration relative to the average concentration across the Butte Valley, especially during winter.
The program is being funded by Montana Resources and the Butte-Silver Bow Redevelopment Trust Health Initiatives account. Program representatives are currently identifying Greeley-area homes for initial change-outs. Change-outs, including the new stove and labor – are free (to a pre-determined amount) and participation in the program is voluntary.
Health Department officials who will attend the meeting are Heath Department Director Karen Sullivan, Environmental Services Division Director Dan Powers, Environmental Monitoring Programs Manager Paul Riley, and Woodstove Change-Out Program Coordinator Stephan Burns.
Additional questions or concerns about the Woodstove Change-Out Program may be directed to Stephen Burns at (406) 497-5024 or (406) 490-9628 or sburns@bsb.mt.gov.