Two odd topics for Berlin

LINDA DROLLINGER
Posted 8/29/18

BEACH LAKE, PA — Two out-of-the-ordinary topics popped up at the August 20 Berlin Township Board of Supervisors meeting: residential burning policy and township responsibility for emergency …

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Two odd topics for Berlin

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BEACH LAKE, PA — Two out-of-the-ordinary topics popped up at the August 20 Berlin Township Board of Supervisors meeting: residential burning policy and township responsibility for emergency medical services not under its sponsorship.

Resident Jim Barth asked if Berlin had an ordinance pertaining to residential refuse burning. Supervisor Cathy Hunt said it did not, that the township followed guidelines set by the state. When Barth asked what kind of materials could be legally burned, Hunt said paper could be burned in a container like a burn barrel, adding that any refuse that produces smelly, black smoke would be subject to review. Barth asked to whom such an incident should be reported, and Hunt advised him to call one of the supervisors, saying that a supervisor would then notify the offender to explain the state’s open burning policy.

Pennsylvania residential open burning policy and guidelines can be found online at the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s website, tinyurl.com/ybkjlxnd. Per that website’s opening statement, “An EPA report published in November 1997 shows that a single household burn barrel may emit as much toxic chemicals as a well-controlled municipal incinerator. ‘Major sources’ of pollution, such as incinerators and factories, have been regulated for years. Now, DEP is focusing on educating the public about the impact of smaller sources—such as open burning—on air quality.”

The board moved on to other business, Hunt puzzling over correspondence received from DGK Insurance Company for reimbursement of Texas Township’s share of workers’ compensation insurance premiums for volunteer emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. Citing provisions of Pennsylvania State Law Act 60 of 2002 Workers’ Compensation Act (tinyurl.com/y72cltbp), the letter assessed Berlin Township 10% of neighboring Texas Township’s workers’ compensation insurance cost. According to the act’s preamble, it provides to rescue services volunteers the same workers’ compensation insurance long enjoyed by paid workers. Municipal volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance corps members injured and/or sickened in the course of duty are now covered by workers’ compensation insurance.

Although Hunt was unsure how the 10% assessment fee was determined, discussion with emergency-management coordinator Rich Miller after the meeting revealed that Berlin Township has no EMS organization of its own. Its EMS needs are served by the White Mills Ambulance Corps of Texas Township and the Tusten Ambulance Corps of Narrowsburg, NY. Both of those organizations should be reimbursed for Berlin’s share of rescue volunteer workers’ compensation premiums, but Act 60 may not be binding for an out-of-state municipal rescue entity. Tusten provides service to eastern Berlin Township, roughly from Beach Lake to the Delaware River, while White Mills provides service to western Berlin Township, roughly from Beach Lake to the Texas Township border.

beach lake, Berlin Township, open burning, ordinances

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