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The family hearth, a traditional winter gathering place for warmth and good cheer, has been deemed a public health threat and the City Council will soon consider measures to curtail its use. 

The Community Environmental Advisory Committee approved a resolution on Thursday recommending the City Council adopt wood smoke control polices including recognizing wood smoke as a health hazard, banning open fireplaces in new home construction and urging residents to replace fireplaces with gas logs or EPA-approved, enclosed fireplaces.  

The commission approved the motion by a 5-2 vote, with Commissioners Pratap Chatterjee and Dan Luten voting in opposition and Commissioners Nicholas Morgan and Raquel Pinderhughes absent. 

The commission also recommended the City Council fund a thorough air study to determine exactly what percentage of airborne health risks are posed by wood smoke compared to other air pollutants such auto emissions. 

The CEAC recommendation may mean that Berkeley will be joining other cities such as San Jose, Los Gatos and Petaluma, which have enacted ordinances designed to cut back the use of wood-burning fireplaces. 

Commissioner Elmer Grossman said the commission received hundreds of letters, e-mails and phone calls from the public about possible wood-smoke restrictions. 

“It was a very difficult task for the commission. It took over a year and there was a great deal of public interest both for and against restrictions,” Grossman said . 

The commission sited several studies to support their decision including a study by the Bay Area Air Quality District which showed during times of heavy fireplace use, wood smoke is responsible for 20 to 50 percent of all air-polluting particulate matter. And a medical study in Santa Clara County conducted from 1989 to 1992, which showed heavy fireplace use on cold nights caused emergency-room visits for asthma conditions to soar by 50 percent.  

The commission also heard from Berkeley residents who said they have respiratory conditions that are aggravated during the winter when their neighbors frequently use their fireplaces. 

Berkeley Hills resident, Dr. Davida Coady, said she suffers from sinusitis and her partner has asthma and during the cold months their lives are miserable. 

“The air quality is good here during the summer and terrible during the winter unless the air currents don’t carry the smoke over the hill,” she said. “I’m for any measure that will limit wood smoke.” 

Grossman said the commission rejected tougher measures such as requiring homeowners to remove or modify fireplaces when their homes were sold or extensively remodeled. The cost estimates to alter fireplaces ranged from $500 to $2,500. 

The Berkeley Association of Realtors strongly opposed any ordinance requiring homeowners to alter their homes. According to a letter submitted by BAR member Donald Clark, forcing alterations would increase home prices and such an ordinance would take too long to have an appreciable effect because of the slow turnover of residential property in Berkeley. 

Chatterjee said he voted against the motion because it was not broad enough. He said auto emissions and industrial air pollution also need to be addressed. 

According to Chatterjee the BAAQD strongly promoted wood smoke restrictions, even sending a representative to every meeting in which the commission was considering the issue. He said, however, the aggressive promotion was covering for lack of action the BAAQD has taken against increased automobile use in the Bay Area. 

“It’s easier to pick on homeowners than auto owners or large industry,” he said.