Ames city officials are asking for an apology from researchers who identified the Ames electric power plant as a major producer of a dangerous dioxin.

The officials said research was conducted that falsely named the plant as a major producer of a dioxin that pollutes breast milk in Inuit people in northern Canada.

The plant was named Tuesday as one of the 10 largest sources of dioxin pollution by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC). The pollution reaches the people in Canada and the Arctic Circle and harms to their health, according to the study, which was conducted from July 1, 1996 to June 30, 1997.

“Since our plant does not produce dioxins, we have no idea why Ames was included in the widely publicized list of pollutants,” Assistant City Manager Bob Kindred said in a press conference Wednesday.

The plant operators never were contacted by researchers to learn about the how the plant operates, Kindred said, and the researchers did not take readings from the plant but used a model to create the data.

Officials are questioning the model produced by Barry Commoner, the lead researcher from New York. However, city officials said they still do not understand how the study was conducted or how the top 10 cities were determined, because the researchers would not talk to plant officials, said Clare Bills, city public relations officer.

“Prior to releasing that information, they never contacted us to learn the nature of our facility,” Kindred said. “At least one other affected community has questioned Dr. Commoner’s scientific methods. While we take no issue to researchers’ drawing attention to valid public-health issues, we feel NACEC owes Ames citizens a huge apology for unfairness and destroying our reputation.”

Kindred said they plan to contact the researchers and ask them to retract their allegations based on the plant’s information.

“However, damage to our reputation has already been done,” he said.

The city has been in contact with NACEC personnel, who declined to comment about the study, but referred officials to its Web site. City officials said they found the study but were unable to locate Ames among the dioxin-producing communities.

Kindred said legal action against NACEC is premature, but members of the Ames City Council were very upset that the agency did not contact the plant about the study.

“That’s what’s unfortunate is what this group has done to our reputation and to the trust of our citizens and people around the country put in the city council and those around the state, and that will never be recovered,” he said.

Melvin Hove, director of electric services for Ames, said the plant is not producing dioxins because of the high temperature at which it burns.

“We get complete combustion,” he said.

Al Joensen, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, said the Environmental Protection Agency consultants tested the unit No. 7 in 1981 and concluded that no chlorinated-dioxins emissions were released. Around the same time, the Ames Laboratory, under contract from the Department of Energy, tested unit No. 8 for dioxins and found that none were formed.

Joensen said that because the plant burns at a temperature of 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit, dioxins are not even formed. He said he doesn’t know how Commoner got his numbers and believes they were inaccurate.

“In all honesty, in reading the way [Commoner] is talking about these things, it tells me, “Do they really know what they are doing?’ But more importantly, `What levels of emission were they using to plug into some computer model?'”

The units are the boilers for the plant, where a combination of 90 percent low sulfur coal and 10 percent refuse-derived fuel are burned for electric power and energy use in Ames. Even though the tests were conducted many years ago, Joensen does not see the need to do them again.

“We file emission levels with the state DNR [Department of Natural Resources] who reviews that, and if they have any questions, they can require a stack test. . They are not questioning it, therefore, I don’t feel it’s necessary to conduct the tests again,” he said.

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco said Ames has been at the leading edge of technology for its coal-firing techniques and has been recognized nationally for its environmental practices. He said he questions the credibility of the study and wants Ames’ credibility restored in the state.

“I very strongly believe that the citizens of Ames, Ames City Council and city staff deserve an unconditional apology from this corporation,” he said.

Ames officials are inviting the public to celebrate 25 years of the plant’s existence and to answer any questions about the plant on Saturday, Oct. 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information on the power plant, visit the city’s Web site.