The state stopped Kiski Township from collecting residents’ yard brush to burn on township-owned property.

The Department of Environmental Protection received an anonymous complaint about the township burning residents’ yard brush, a free service the township has provided for years, said township Secretary Patrick Bono. Residents would drop off their yard brush — typically tree branches, stumps, etc. — on public works property, where township employees would burn what amounted to a small amount of brush, Bono said.

DEP officials met with township officials about the complaint, Bono said.

The agency wanted to bring the township up to date with laws governing burning in the state.

According to the state’s Solid Waste Management Act, a person or community needs a permit to burn solid wastes and an “air curtain destructor,” a mechanical device that contains smoke and particulate matter, said Tom Decker, spokesman for DEP’s northwest region.

If the township would like to continue to burn residents’ brush, it would need to purchase the “air curtain destructor,” Decker said.

The township has decided not to accept brush from residents to burn, Bono said.

“Residents are still allowed to burn brush on their property, a controlled burn,” he said. “They have to be ready to extinguish the fire,” he added.

Additionally, residents burning on their property can do so as long as emissions from the fire are not crossing onto neighboring properties or affecting other people, Decker said.

According to the DEP, the following items are prohibited for burning by residents: garbage, leaves, household waste including furniture, mattresses, box springs, carpet, appliances and solvents, treated wood, tires and batteries, construction or demolition waste, toxic or hazardous chemicals or substances and explosive materials.

Recyclable materials should not be burned, including plastic, soda bottles, laundry, or soap-type bottles, bi-metal and aluminum cans, clear or colored glass, magazines, and other recyclable items that may be collected in the future.

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