Rebekah A. Hall

Albany, N.Y. -- New York legislators recently held a hearing to address concerns about backyard burning, with more discussion to come in the future. Environmentalists and physicians attested that garbage disposed in burn barrels create half of all potentially carcinogenic dioxins in the air. The New York Farm Bureau and the New York Senate, however, are opposed to banning the practice throughout the state because small, rural communities have limited disposal options, according to the organization. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont already ban backyard burning, and California and New Mexico have established bans this year.