Two salvage yards in Boone have been closed for possibly endangering the environment.Yards operated by Lindahl’s Salvage, 977 Lamb Lane and 1318 198th Road in Boone, were closed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in October 2000, said Kary Woolson, assistant sanitarian for Boone County. Woolson said the yards were used by many members of the Ames and ISU communities.The yards, which had operated for more than 25 years, were popular because there was not a fee to dump waste in either of the locations, Woolson said.However, the yards were unable to comply with state waste guidelines.”The salvage yards did not comply with permits,” she said.Woolson said some of the problems with the salvage yards were the burning of combustible gases, not draining the oil out of cars, disposing improperly of solid waste, and knowingly venting ozone-depleting compounds. Also, the salvage yards did not have a pollution-prevention plan, which the DNR requires for any type of salvage yard or waste dump.”When there is a lack of a pollution-prevention plan, chemicals and other harmful waste products soak into the ground when there is any type of water runoff,” she said.The salvage yard housed abandoned cars, refrigerators, tires, gas tanks and almost anything else people didn’t want, which caused many problems for the environment, Woolson said.”We were always putting out fires,” said Ed Knight, fire chief of the Boone fire department.Knight said one of the worst fires involved burning tires and pressurized tanks that exploded about a year and a half ago. This made the fire almost impossible to control and even harder to put out. Knight also said fires started “all the time.” The fires usually started from the sparks of torches, which are used to salvage vehicles. While the lots will re-open eventually, Woolson said it will not be until after improvements have been made.These improvements include removing almost everything in the yards and testing the groundwater for contamination, Knight said.”[Lindahl’s Salvage] will have to be different when they reopen,” he said.