MORRISVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – Eight months after WCAX’s first visit to Morin Farm, their outdated wood boiler is still running – and tensions with the state are at a boiling point.
Earlier this year, we told you about a Morrisville farm at odds with the state over its heating system.
As temperatures sunk this season, Dennis Morin sparked up his wood boiler that wasn’t supposed to last into this winter.
“They wanted it gone a long time ago,” said Morin.
11 years ago, the state told Morin and his wife Anita their Outdoor Hydronic Heater – or OHH – was uncertified and outdated.
Today, it’s still burning.
The Agency of Natural Resources offered to cover half of the $20,000 price tag for a phase two OHH.
“These certified OHHs produce less emissions and subsequent impacts on neighbors. Additionally, they are far more efficient than Morin’s current OHH,” the ANR told WCAX in an email statement.
Concerned Vermonters are willing to help pay too, but the couple declined all offers.
Morin says he needs concrete proof that a new heating system like an updated OHH could heat his barn of cows using the donated pine scraps he burns now.
“It’d have to show me that it could burn the wood that I got because I don’t wanna take this one out and then I’m stuck with no heat,” said Morin.
The Morins owe the ANR thousands in fines and only made it to one of many court hearings.
Morin says he can’t leave the farm during milking hours.
“They should come here, milk my cows, and I could go to the court,” said Morin.
In October, the Vermont Superior Court issued the Morins a second contempt order.
Morin says he’s waiting for someone to show up to his farm demanding action.
He wants to find common ground but says he needs more from the state to meet the mark.
“I don’t wanna give up. I mean, I’m gonna be 66 here. I want to go as long as I can go. This is my life,” said Morin.
The ANR says they’re not requesting imprisonment at this time.