Darrington

From February 2005 through April 15, 2009, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has been and will be assisting the town of Darrington in solving a wintertime air pollution problem caused almost entirely by residential wood heating.

Darrington is nestled in the Cascade foothills in northern Snohomish County, in a visually stunning location that is isolated from other communities.  With its roots in the logging industry, many homes are heated with wood.  Because the town sits in a deep valley surrounded by mountain peaks, occasional and persistent wintertime inversions trap smoke from residential wood burning, which causes pollution levels to rise.

Aside from the wintertime heating season, Darrington’s air quality is typically in the Good category of the Air Quality Index (AQI).

In early 2005, Darrington’s town leaders asked the Clean Air Agency to help them reduce this wintertime wood smoke pollution.  With the agency’s help, the town launched a subsidized wood stove trade-out program in late 2005.  Over the next 2½ years, 66 old, uncertified wood stoves were replaced with electric heat pumps, propane stoves, pellet stoves and certified wood stoves.  As a result, more than 17,000 pounds of fine particulate matter (wood smoke) has been removed annually from Darrington’s wintertime air.  Ambient air quality monitoring has also shown that seasonal fine particulate concentrations are on a pronounced downward trend since the wood stove trade-out program was started.

By early 2008, many residents had expressed appreciation with the improved air quality, including health benefits (improvement in their or their family members’ asthma or allergies), absence of smoke-stained walls in their homes, and ability to enjoy wintertime walks without the annoyance of wood smoke.

In September 2008, the Clean Air Agency launched a new round of subsidized wood stove change-outs in Darrington as part of a larger Puget Sound Wood Stove Replacement Program.  This new round of rebates ends April 15, 2009 or when funds expire, whichever comes first.  We are hopeful this new funding will result in 15 to 30 additional uncertified wood stoves in Darrington being replaced with cleaner burning  appliances.