Lennox Hearth Products Contributes To Montana Air Quality Campaign
Orange, CA (July 20, 2005) – In support of a hearth industry initiative, Lennox Hearth Products (LHP) is making a significant contribution to the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association’s (HPBA) campaign to provide free EPA-certified wood stoves to more than 300 low-income residents in Lincoln County, Montana. The stove drive was launched to help the region — hit hard by the loss of jobs and industry — meet new federal air quality standards.
The HPBA raised $1 million in product donations and resources from the wood stove industry for the project, which comes as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) begins a nationwide campaign to encourage Americans to replace older polluting wood stoves with new EPA-certified stoves. As a Platinum Sponsor, Lennox Hearth Products is donating over $100,000 in cash and products.
“New technology has made today’s wood-burning stoves, along with manufactured fireplaces, much cleaner,” says Bob Dischner, Director of Marketing, LHP, and a member of the HPBA board of directors. “EPA-certified wood stoves produce 90 percent fewer emissions than a traditional wood-burning stove and do not require as much wood to burn.”
Lincoln County (where Libby is located) is receiving additional funding from the EPA to coordinate the replacement of the community’s remaining 1,200 non-certified wood stoves over the next 2 to 3 years. The Montana project will be used as a model for future EPA wood stove change-outs in other parts of the country as part of the EPA’s “Great American Wood Stove Changeout Campaign.”
Lincoln County is one of 208 whole or partial counties across the U.S., plus the District of Columbia, that have been designated as “non-attainment areas” by the EPA because they don’t meet the Clean Air Act standard for fine airborne particulate matter known as PM2.5.
According to the EPA, smoke and soot (made up of fine particulate matter) can worsen existing health conditions like asthma, as well as cause chronic bronchitis, heart problems and even death in people with heart and lung disease.
Widespread use of older wood-burning stoves is blamed for 80 percent of the pollution in the Libby valley, where smoke often gets trapped overhead and can linger for days until a new weather front moves through. States like Montana, with designated non-attainment zones, must submit plans by February 2008 outlining emission control measures that will put them in compliance with the EPA’s PM2.5 standard.
The EPA estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the wood stoves currently in use by 10 million Americans are older stoves that emit unhealthy concentrations of fine particulate matter. Other causes of PM2.5 include vehicle and factory emissions.
Lennox offers several EPA-approved wood stoves as well as a full selection of EPA-approved wood fireplaces, gas fireplaces, electric fireplaces and pellet stoves. LHP’s newest EPA-certified hearth appliance is the High-Efficiency, Wood-Burning Villa Vista™ Fireplace.
The latest addition to the Dave Lennox Signature Collection, the Villa Vista features the largest fire view in its category and can heat up to 2,500 square feet with a powerful and efficient 70,000 BTU catalytic combustion burner.
For more information about the full line of Lennox Hearth Products and the Dave Lennox Signature™ Collection, please call 800-9-LENNOX, or visit our Website at www.LennoxHearthProducts.com.
A list of the U.S. designated “Non-Attainment” zones by state can be viewed by going to the EPA’s website for PM2.5 located at www.epa.gov/pmdesignations under the heading “Table Showing Final Designations.”
Wendy Howells, Vice President and General Manager, Lennox Hearth Products (LHP) and Bob Dischner, Director of Marketing, LHP, in front of an EPA-certified wood stove, one of 300 EPA-certified stoves that will be supplied free-of-charge to low-income residents in Libby, Montana, courtesy of the hearth industry.
Editors: A high-resolution image for this caption can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.kellencompany.com/downloads/Lennox/images/Libby_1.jpg