A Newport Beach-based nonprofit filed a lawsuit Tuesday in hopes of keeping wood-burning fire rings on beaches in Orange County, according to a report in the Daily Pilot.
The lawsuit was filed by Friends of the Fire Rings in Orange County Superior Court asking a judge to throw out parts of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's recently approved fire ring restrictions which are scheduled to go into effect in March 2014.
According to the newspaper Melinda Luthin, lead attorney for Friends of the Fire Rings, said in a prepared statement, "The AQMD has violated the public trust and acted in excess of its authority by creating a rule based on politics rather than on scientific proof of air quality benefits."
The AQMD's restrictions require fire pits to be kept at least 700 feet away from the nearest residence and 100 feet apart -- but at least 50 feet apart if a city has 15 or fewer. Restrictions on beach fires on high-pollution days are also included.
The AQMD did not have a comment to the lawsuit.
Read the full story on the Daily Pilot.
Click here for today's top stories on Newport Beach-Corona Del Mar Patch.
Stay Patched in! Like Newport Beach Patch on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter and Sign up for the daily email with links to the latest local news.Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
