Woodstove changeout ongoing

Libby-area woodstove users are being reminded that now is the time to take advantage of a changeout program aimed at improving air quality and forestalling the need to ban wood heating altogether.

The program — which is scheduled to expire Nov. 1 — provides woodstove users with vouchers to offset the cost of replacing old stoves with new, cleaner burning alternatives. Amounts are $700 for an approved gas, wood or pellet heating appliance, $350 for installation by an approved installer, $200 for removal of an old stove without replacement, and $1,400 for furnace replacement or upgrade with a pellet or gas appliance. The vouchers were funded by a $1 million federal grant.

More than 100 of 300 new stoves donated by the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association in 2005 remain available for free distribution to qualifying low-income households as well.

County sanitarian Ron Anderson, whose department is managing the changeout program, is advising people not to wait until cold weather sets in to replace their stoves.

"This is really the time when the stove dealers and installers have the time, and they're not depending on turning the stove off during the day to get the work done," he said.

To date, 529 vouchers have been issued — with 168 of those redeemed — of a targeted 900. There have been 680 applications.

"We're encouraged by the number of applications we've received," Anderson said. "Obviously a lot of people are aware of the program."

Initially, vouchers were not issued to people with fireplaces or shop stoves, but that policy is changing Anderson said. About 100 applications for replacement of fireplaces and shop stoves will now be processed, he said.

Of the 300 stoves donated for the first phase of the changeout program, 182 have been installed. The stoves, which are certified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as clean-burning, are available at no charge to Libby-area residents who meet low-income guidelines. Landlords with renters who meet the guidelines are also eligible to participate but must make a $500 co-payment.

The changeout program was put in place as a response to the area's failure to meet new federal air quality standards for particulate matter. Anderson and program coordinator Jerry Marquez were recently honored for their work with an Environmental Achievement Award from the EPA at the agency's regional awards ceremony in Denver.

"It was a nice acknowledgment of the program up here," Anderson said.

Starting in January 2007, non-certified woodstoves will be banned from use in an area that extends along Montana Highway 37 nearly to Canoe Gulch, west along the Kootenai River to the Bighorn Terrace area, and south to Libby Creek. In the Pipe Creek area, the restrictions extend to the neighborhood around the Red Dog Saloon and Doak Creek.

If the changeout program and the elimination of non-certified stoves does not bring the area into compliance, the alternative will be to outlaw all woodstove use, Anderson pointed out. He said people need to take advantage of the "golden opportunity" presented by the changeout program.

"People just have to grasp that, or everybody's going to lose," he said.

More information on the changeout program is available from the county's environmental health department at 293-7781 extension 228.