IRVINE : Company Burning Dead Orange Trees
The agriculture firm that leases farmland from the Irvine Co. is burning thousands of the dead orange trees it has uprooted over the last year.
The burns, which are done in cooperation with the Orange County Fire Department, began last week and will continue for at least another week.
“If there is a period when we can’t work because of rain or a shift in the wind pattern, it might take a bit longer,” said Dawn L. McCormick, director of corporate communications for the Irvine Co. “The nature of this is unpredictable.”
Hundreds of acres of orange groves in the Irvine area have been removed over the past year to make way for more profitable row crops such as peppers and strawberries.
The Irvine Co. originally planned to grind down all the dead trees. But McCormick said many of the trees turned out to be thick and dense, causing the grinding process to take longer than expected.
Treasure Farms, which leases the farmland from the Irvine Co., plans to burn only dead trees that are far from residential developments. The trees closest to homes will continue to be ground down.
The burning has been approved by the Air Quality Management District and will only occur when winds are blowing away from development. But on Tuesday, shifting wind patterns caused smoke to blow toward some residences in the Northwood village, McCormick said.
Officials fear that if the trees are not disposed of now, heavy winter rains might force them to leave the trees in the fields until June or July, preventing Treasure Farms from planting new crops on the land until next season, McCormick added.
