Spontaneous combustion in compost piles at Webster City’s green waste site — for many years known as the brush and compost site — has complicated an annual fall chore for many Webster Citians, hauling leaves, limbs and brush to the site on east Ohio Street.

To stop the fires, the mounds of chipped wood had to be spread out, leaving less room to dump new material. Until a permanent solution can be implemented, only grass clippings and leaves have been accepted at the site.

A temporary measure, approved by city council a week ago, also allowed brush and limbs to be dumped at the site for five days, ending Tuesday, November 14.

At its work session Tuesday night, the City Council of Webster City reviewed the new policy, concluding the public is happy to have the site open once more for disposal of limbs and brush, and was “respecting the 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday operating hours.”

Councilman Logan Welch again mentioned he knew some people were having difficulty getting to the site within these hours due to work schedules and other commitments, and asked if opening the site one full weekend might help the situation.

As this was a work session, council did not vote on this possibility, but agreed to keep the site open under the current regulations through Monday, December 4.

As a long-term solution, the city is planning to buy a model S220e air burner, effectively a highly-efficient portable incinerator, manufactured by Air Burner, Inc. of Florida. The manufacturer claims this incinerator “will reduce waste to approximately 2 percent of original weight, leaving a clean carbon waste that can be turned into local soil.”

The burner is electrically powered and has adequate capacity to handle five tons per hour, the amount the city is applying for in its permit.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources must issue an installation and use permit before the burner can be put into service. The DNR is evaluating the city’s request for an air burner, and is expected to make a ruling sometime in early spring 2024.