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New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) implemented stricter statewide open burning standards, effective October 14, 2009. 

The Tompkins County EMC worked to strengthen the Open Burning and Air Pollution Regulations in Tompkins County when residential open burning of waste became the major source of dioxins.

Dioxins are some of the most toxic known substances and they're showing up in dangerous levels throughout our environment. In the past factories were to blame, though now homeowners are considered to be the major source of dioxin-based pollution largely through the burning of trash.

Where the burning of trash was once a relatively benign event, the increasingly diverse types of materials in our residential waste stream has created a scenario where homeowners burn items like plastics in inefficient, un-scrubbed fires that burn cool and actually serve as a vehicle for creating highly toxic dioxins.

Bans on burning any residential waste have been pursued for years and have been implemented in many US states. On October 14, 2009, new open burning regulations went into effect and burning trash is now prohibited statewide in all cases.

Information regarding what constitutes open burning, and what you can do about it, are available on the Environmental Health page of the Tompkins County Health Department Website.