Wondering if you can use your woodstove? We’ll text you about it.
Starting this fall, Mendenhall Valley residents can get a text when an air emergency has been called. Through a new partnership with Verizon Wireless, CBJ is providing a free, voluntary text messaging service to Valley residents notifying them when an air emergency has been called or cancelled.
Between Oct. 1 and April 30, the Lands & Resources Division runs the CBJ Air Quality Monitoring Program to ensure the Mendenhall Valley’s air remains clean and healthy. Staff members monitor air quality data to detect fine particulates from woodsmoke in the air. If data shows an unhealthy concentration of the fine particulates and weather patterns are not clearing the air, CBJ will declare an air emergency.
During an air emergency, all woodstove burning is prohibited until the emergency is cancelled. Pellet Stoves are exempt from the wood stove regulations and can burn at any time. Masonry heaters that fit the definition given by the Masonry Heater Association of North America are also exempt from the wood stove regulations.
CBJ uses several methods to notify the public about an air emergency, including radio ads, road signs, online notifications and a hotline. The text messaging service is the newest method for Valley residents to stay informed. Sign up for the free service here.
To find out if an air emergency has been called, the public can also:
- Check the CBJ Lands and Resources Division website: www.juneau.org/lands
- Visit one of the 12 neon yellow burn ban signs located throughout the Valley
- Call the CBJ Wood Smoke Hotline anytime at 586-5333
For more information, contact Lands & Resources Specialist Rachel Friedlander at 586-5252 or [email protected].