Downtown Restaurant's Wood-Burning Oven Is Local Example Of Bigger Environmental Concern
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Since 1837, the First Lutheran Church in Downtown Pittsburgh has had an open door to worshippers of all creeds, but more recently it's been host of a most unwelcome guest.
Wood smoke filters in from The Commoner restaurant next door.
"It's filling our worship space with smoke, filling offices and the basement with smoke. People are working and we've had to deal with breathing this poison for this year and a half," said Rev. Brian Evans, the pastor of First Lutheran Church.
Since its opening in January of last year, The Commoner's wood-burning oven has been churning out delicious flatbreads, but also sending the smoke into the alley out back.
For more than a year now, wood smoke from the restaurant has been pouring out of the vents and being sucked directly into the church offices.
The church at this point has had quite enough.
Rev. Evans says the smoke coated the pipes of the organ with a sheen of grease and caused health problems in the workers and members of the congregations.
"We've all had sore throats, running eyes and nose, breathing issues," he says.
But those problems may soon come to an end.
"We've executed a consent order with The Commoner which requires them to make corrections within 30 days," said Jim Thompson, of the Allegheny County Health Department.
After citing The Commoner and hearing the restaurant appeals, the county and restaurant have signed a consent order, agreeing to build a smoke stack up to the roof to steer the smoke clear of the church's intakes. The restaurant will also install filters and pay $4,800 civil penalty.
But the county and church say all of these things could have been done voluntarily a year ago.
"We are disappointed that it took this long, but we are happy that we will achieve a resolution that we think will complete fix the problem," said Thompson.
In a statement, The Commoner and Hotel Monaco said, "Hotel ownership has been working with the county to find a mutually agreeable solution, and we're pleased that a plan has been agreed to and is currently underway. We're making a significant investment in this project and look forward to implementing a permanent solution that's in the best interest of the community."
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But the case highlights a bigger problem.
Environmental groups like PennFuture are raising general concerns the danger of popular ovens in tight urban spaces. They cite health concerns about particulates in the smoke that have been linked to cancer.
"The main thing is we need to have proper law enforcement and make sure these wood-burning facilities have the proper catalytic converts and scrubbers on them that control the pollutants," said Larry Schweiger, of PennFuture.
In a month's time, the dispute between The Commoner and the church should be resolved. But the concerns over wood-burning ovens will continue with tighter regulations sure to come.
