BOONE — For almost a year, ISU coal combustion plant waste, known as fly ash, has floated through the skies of Boone County.

Biosolids Management Group has been using the fly ash byproduct with approval from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to fill the Victoria M. Meier gravel pit, located just east of the Des Moines River in Boone.

Since August 2003, land owners have logged numerous complaints with local officials, the Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State about drifting clouds of dust and soot that needs to be scraped off vehicles and sidewalks.

The complaints culminated in a meeting Wednesday called by state Rep. Jim Kurtenbach, R-Nevada, at the Ericson Public Library in Boone. The meeting featured representatives from the Boone County Board of Supervisors, the DNR and ISU Facilities Planning and Management.

The primary concern was the wind dispersal of the ash byproduct.

“There were nights when we thought there was a prairie fire, and it was just fly ash,” said Richard Parker, who owns property just northeast of the site.

Iowa State made a three-year public contract with BMG to remove the fly ash from its facilities and dispose of it, said Jeff Witt, assistant director of utilities for Iowa State.

Fly ash, under the Environmental Protection Code, can be considered a byproduct resource as opposed to a byproduct waste if it does not “adversely affect human health or the environment.”

The ash taken to Boone, which contains various substances and metals including both chromium and arsenic, was blown off the site and onto neighboring farms.

Boone residents said they were concerned for their safety and the future safety of their land. The DNR received six official complaints, said Wayne Gieselman, Environmental Services Division administrator.

At the meeting Wednesday, Bill Gross, Environmental Specialist Senior and field inspector for the DNR, said he had visited the site 10 times, and had not seen many of the problems the residents described.

“Our concern was the groundwater,” Gieselman said.

The DNR shut down Biosolids Management Group’s project temporarily last August until it was certain local groundwater was not effected by the deposit.

Some residents felt that Iowa State could also take more responsibility for the site.

“ISU involvement could be more proactive,” Parker said. “They could lobby for the Legislature to come up with a regional site [where it can dispose of the fly ash], which might be cheaper for them anyway.”

A regional site would be state-designated and would eliminate the public bidding process.

When hiring a contractor, Iowa State considers three things — if the contractor has satisfied the DNR, if the contractor has the capacity to handle the ash, and finally the bid amount the contractor offers, Witt said.

However, after concerns over the gravel pit in Boone, Biosolids Management Group has begun closing the site, Witt said, and it has also closed its contract with Iowa State.

Most of the meeting attendees said they hoped an alternative to the open-pit option would be found for future sites.

“If it’s safe, then why do they keep it in closed containers and closed trucks and then dump it into an open pit?” said Barbara Krumhardt of Madrid.