Wendy Angel

New York -- New York has joined seven Northeast states in a regional effort to reduce pollution caused by backyard burning of household waste. The state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner signed a resolution that calls for strengthening restrictions of open-air burning and educating residents about the environmental hazards.

A study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the state and the DEC found that burning 10 pounds of household trash in a barrel potentially causes as much pollution as burning 400,000 pounds of trash in a commercial incinerator.

Other Northeastern states that have joined the regional trash-burning reduction effort include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont.