Town considers chipping instead of burning brush

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

Several weeks ago, Town of Marion work crews set ablaze the accumulated brush near the water treatment plant in the eastern part of town. That’s a normal practice, and typically, the smoke rises and drifts off above Wythe County on the prevailing winds.
That burn day this fall was different. A storm system on the seaboard pushed the smoke back toward Marion. A smoky midday haze even clouded Chilhowie.
That may have been the straw that broke the town’s habit of burning the brush that crews and contractors cut or collect from curbs after citizens trim their trees and bushes.
Town Council member Gene Hendrick noted the town’s interest in adopting “green” environmentally friendly practices and suggested Monday the town mulch brush and limbs instead of burning them.
Hendrick had done a little research and found a company in High Point, N.C., that makes stationary rotary chippers.
A rough estimate put the cost between $110,000 and $135,000, Hendrick said.
Hendrick acknowledged the expense is not in the budget. “I feel like there may be grants out there to help us do something like this,” he said. “It’s an expensive way out of burning brush, but I think it’s well worth it.”
The council voted unanimously to send the matter for joint consideration by the sanitation and equipment committees.
While burning has been the default disposal means for brush, the dump’s management has gone through phases over the years – open access, then access only by prior permission, Town Manager John Clark said a year and a half ago as the town mulled a crackdown on what material could be taken to the burn pile, and who could take it.
New restrictions followed a Marion resident’s complaint last year that along with brush, private citizens dumped construction and demolition debris, some of which may have been painted or composed entirely of materials that can be toxic when burned.
Phillip Martin showed the council a piece of painted lumber he said he retrieved from the burn pile. Martin was concerned that the paint could contain lead that could be released in the air by incineration.
His presentation surprised town officials who were aware only of brush taken by town crews to the pile.
The town began locking a gate across the road to the burn pile, keeping out private citizens. Only town employees have access. Contractors cutting trees and brush for the town must be accompanied by town employees when taking that material to the burn pile.
Now, if the two committees recommend it, the town may abandon burning altogether.
The chipper, Hendrick said, would need to be enclosed in a building where the burn pile accumulates now.
“It would be good for the town to go green,” Hendrick said. “We could sell it back to the citizens or give it away.”

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