I've been wondering what to do with our collection of telegraph poles. Burning them really wasn't on the list!

Coal tar creosote has been banned from public sale in the UK since about 2003 as trials showed it to be a probable carcinogen. The stuff you buy in BnQ these days is all Creosote substitute...

http://www.hse.gov.uk/biocides/copr/creosote.htm

Quote: There are also restrictions on where wood that has been treated with creosote/coal tar creosote can be used. The Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) can provide further information on these restrictions (tel: 020 7215 5000). Endquote.

Probably be very good at tarring up his flue & starting a chimney fire. I believe that creosote was identified many years ago as being carcinogenic through skin absorption - really friendly stuff!

I have 4 telegraph poles lying in our yard, I was burning off some weeds with a propane torch and gave the end of one of the poles a blast to see what would happen. It was pretty intense - you could probably take the Flying Scotsman from London to Edinburgh using a 12" offcut. Wouldn't want that in my woodburner...

We have been through this before.

Because of similar (though not as severe) problems, I ascertained what hte legal position is on waste as fuel.

There is a little uncertainty as to the legal status of burning rubbish produced from within your own property. It seems you can do so as long as it is rubbish disposal not a regular source of fuel and that it does not cause a nuisance ( and this includes offending sights and smells). But the next point is important. The only waste you can use as fuel is green waste. Green waste includes wood offcuts, leaves even. All other waste is illegal. This waste includes any treated or used timber. Even pallets and even untreated pallets are illegal.

These regulations are there to protect the environment and human health. You need to remember that wood smoke is over rten times more carcinogenic than tobacco smoke and burning waste potentially multiplies carcinogenic potency many times over.

The regulations are the responsibility of the Environment Agency but the enforcers of those regulations are the local Council. Your Council may not want to become involved - just inform them that any correspondence with them will be forwarded to the EA if any foot dragging takes place.

Plus old poles don't half knacker up your chainsaw.

...gonna p*ss off BT isn't it....



J

Thanks for you comments, everyone. I asked our local Environmental Health officer if there was anything they could do to help us dissuade this person from burning this material. They are adamant that they can only do anything if the smoke becomes a statutory nuisance. He said they would try to find some information we could pass on.

It might not be strictly legal, but there's a big problem with enforcement as it's difficult to get proper evidence, and not cost effective for local authorities to chase people for what they do on a small scale unless it really affects someone nearby.

Just have to hope he doesn't like the smell!

Local Authority Environmental Health have more powers to act if black smoke is produced. This is under the Clean Air Act 1993, not just Statutory Nuisance. Sorry, I was going to post this a few days ago but forgot until you bumped up the topic.

Hi Joe90,

I am all in favour of biomass energy but we must understand its limited potential. I personally favour local biomass CHP's with an output of around 1MW. These units can abate their emissions by filtering and controlled temperatures.

Yes, wood smoke does have a 2A rating from the IARC. The source of smoke inside a house is mostly from the outside from your own and neighbouring chimneys.

With quality stoves, you do get improved emissions but the smokeless limit is a poor one. It roughly equates to 5g PM10 smoke particles per kg of wood burnt. In my opinion, the worst standard we should be 1g PM10 per kg of fuel. There are woodchip furnaces and wood pellets stoves that can just achieve that but I am not aware of any log burning stoves that burn below the 1g limit.

It is difficult to make precise statements, but if every house in a built up area emitted smoke particles at the smokeless limit the death rate would rise significantly when compared to a built up area with no smoke emissions from flues or chimneys. The difference would be between 5 and 10%.

What I understand to be illegal:

Removing anything from skips

Using any treated or used wood product as a fuel for home fires.


Burning doors from skips is definitely potentially highly toxic (good grammar??) - what is why the practice has been deemed illegal.

I think the definition of usable wood for fuel is best left to the Environment Agency. What I understand is that any wood that has gone through the manufacturing process even if untreated cannot be used as fuel for home fires.

However, it can be used in incineration plants which comply with the waste incineration directive. It is a good use for waste wood. Burn it in a WID complying incinerator and make energy from it. That is recycling and safe recycling.

We got to think through these issues. Be Green but be clean.

An update on the utility pole burning - it is still going on! We've contacted the Local Authority Environmental Health Dept, the Environment Agency, Defra - I won't go into the details, but basically we're having a job proving anything or getting anyone else to see the problem. We are now looking up Environmental Law Solicitors.

How can it be that someone is allowed to get away with producing a smell that makes you want to heave? I think it doesn't bother them as it burns so hot the smell is away up the chimney and bothering someone else in no time. Anyone else I mention this to is horrified at the idea.

We had a chat to the Environment Agency again today and they might be of more help. They said the problem is it falls between two agencies. There's the nuisance and there's the restricted waste issue. It's devilish hard to prove things under the nuisance laws as they stand, the definition the Environmental Health work to is so narrow. We've called everyone we can today, and will continue to do so. I'm glad you saw straight away what the wood was - that's more than some people have managed.

I also have an ongoing issue with a neighbour's chimney smoke:

This is what the EA told me

any wood that is not virgin timber is classed as waste and would need an exemption or permit to burn. As a pallet is not made from virgin timber any wood from the pallet once it has been discarded would be classed as waste.

The burning of waste at a domestic property is illegal unless its green waste which includes virgin timber from the property. The burning of green waste at a domestic property still needs to be within the local authorities guidelines under Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Highways Acts mentioned by my colleague.

If virgin wood for use as a fuel was purchased to burn at the property this would legal also, as this not classed as waste and being used for a purpose other than disposal. However they could not burn other forms of green waste as this would be a waste disposal activity.

Actually what made me ill was the burning of painted wood rather than pallet wood but that is another story. Regulation and who enforces it does seem to be a problem.

Local Authorities are either not aware of the more recent rules or have simply chosen not to enforce them.

My MP has written to the government asking for clarification. Part of his letter . . .

I should be grateful if you, or one of your colleagues, could let me know what guidance has been issued by the government to Local Authorities regarding informing the general public about the rules regarding the burning of material in households, either as bonfires or on domestic solid fuel fires.

I have yet to have a response.