Hood River County Orchard Sanitation and Air Quality Improvement Program

The immediate and long-term purpose of this project is to improve air quality through the reduction of smoke emissions from burning agricultural waste wood in Hood River County. The long-term goal is to develop a knowledge base that the County and fruit growers can use to evaluate and develop programs that reduce or eliminate pile burning from all sources at a countywide scale. The air curtain burner project will provide data on the quantity of waste wood burned annually, the timing of burning for different types of material (green, diseased, small diameter, large diameter), and the feasibility of a larger equipment sharing or waste collection program.