Too hot in the room?

Just a week after running into a firestorm of opposition in Magalia, the Butte County Air Quality Management District’s Board of Directors announced Feb. 28 that it would hold off on plans to regulate wood-burning heaters in the Chico area.

Instead, the AQMD will hold a series of public workshops on the dangers of wood smoke before any decision is made. The district’s air pollution control officer, Jim Wagoner, told the board the public needs to be involved in the process, since “some folks feel there is no substantiated need to do anything … that there’s not a real health issue.”

The AQMD has added a link on its Web site (www.bcaqmd.org) specifically addressing questions about wood heaters and fireplaces.