Barrow Population Growth Triggers New Requirements for Open Burns

Barrow County’s population growth since 2000 — an increase of 50.3 percent from 46,144 to 69,367 residents, according to the 2010 U.S. Census — has triggered new air quality requirements.

According to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, as county populations increase, neighborhoods and businesses grow closer together and residents are more likely to feel the effects of smoke pollution. Under the Environmental Protection Division’s Open Burning Rules, counties with populations exceeding 65,000 must require anyone burning vegetative material for the purpose of large-scale land clearing to use an Air Curtain Destructor.

An Air Curtain Destructor is a forced air pit incinerator that generates a barrier of air or “air curtain” over a fire when activated over a fire pit and limits the amount of smoke released into the air during the burning process. The curtain of air traps the smoke and forces it back into the hot burning fire instead of out into the atmosphere. The smoke is then re-burned until most of it is gone creating a cleaner burn by emitting considerably less smoke and pollution.

The open burning requirements for counties with populations over 65,000 are in addition to the summer burn ban that applies to 54 counties, including Barrow, in the northern half of the state from May 1 through Sept. 30.