Placer County receives award for not burning piles in Tahoe
By Ed Fletcher, Sacramento Bee
Placer County is one of 12 entities nationwide being recognized this week by the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.
The Clean Air Excellence Award recognizes the county’s air pollution control district’s work diverting Lake Tahoe area forest debris from burn piles.
“By transporting this forest residue out and instead of burning it in burn piles we are reducing pollution put into the atmosphere,” said Supervisor Jim Holmes, who is in D.C. to accept the award.
Removing the wood scraps from the forest floor also reduces the risk of a catastrophic wildfire. The biomass is currently being transported out of the basin, but officials are considering building a one- to three megawatt biomass plant to turn the slash into energy. Locating the plant has proved more controversial.
The EPA award is in its 12 year.