Kindly put out that fire in your backyard

Environment Canada today announced details of a pilot project to stop backyard garbage burning from Sault Ste. Marie through to Thunder Bay.

The following is the full text of a news release issued this afternoon.

Further information can be accessed from the websites listed at the end of the announcement:

***************************************************************** Tackling rural garbage burning

GUELPH, ON, March 24 - Reducing backyard garbage burning and its environmental hazards is the goal of a pilot project in the Lake Superior basin.

One-quarter of all rural Ontario residents burn garbage in open pits, woodstoves, burn barrels and fireplaces, a practice that creates harmful byproducts.

Toxic substances released into the air from burning garbage fall onto leaves of animal feed crops.

When we eat the fats of animals raised on those crops, we eat those toxins, risking a variety of health problems.

The project, sponsored by Environment Canada, hopes to reduce backyard garbage burning by educating people in the Lake Superior basin from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie. The focus will be on making personal decisions on household waste disposal.

Information will be distributed via schools, fire departments, health units, municipal offices and landfill sites.

Messages will also be advertised on TV, radio, print media, woodstove sales, and via a Web site.

www.openburning.org www.ecosuperior.com/openburning.html

Environment Canada's toll-free number is 1-800-668-6767.

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