Chemtrails and contrails got some air time in Sedona City Hall last week.

Sedona City Council listened to a presentation Oct. 25 by representatives from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on both contrails and chemtrails, the typically wispy white material left by an aircraft after it flies across the sky.

Sedona City Manager Tim Ernster said the item was placed on the agenda after concerns were raised by individuals in the community about the possibility of chemicals being sprayed over the community.

“Chemtrail” is a blend of the words “chemical” and “trail,” as “contrail” is a portmanteau of the words “condensation” and “trail.”

City staff held a conference call with ADEQ to discuss the matter. Council members Dan Rayner and Barbara Litrell, and Vice Mayor Cliff Hamilton were also present for the call, Ernster said. Smoke effects in the Sedona area were also discussed.

“I think it was a great opportunity for all of us to become educated on this issue,” Ernster said. “Over the last couple of months, staff has had an opportunity to do some research, read some articles, and we feel that we can’t find any research that really indicates the contrails are a health problem. We feel, while this might be a concern to some people in the community, their real fight is with the federal government and possibly working with the congressional delegation or the [Federal Aviation Administration].”

Ernster asked council members to consider not asking city staff to perform further work on the issue.

Trevor Baggiore, deputy director of ADEQ’s air quality division, said interest in chemtrails comes in cycles.

“We get questions about it, and then we won’t for a year or two, and then it kind of bubbles back to the surface. I know there has been a lot of work done recently on the Internet,” Baggiore said.

Chemtrail claims, he said, allege the trails consist of harmful chemicals such as barium, strontium, aluminum and other chemical compounds. Claims made to ADEQ and on various websites, state the chemicals are dispersed intentionally from airplanes, unmarked or otherwise.

Those claims, Baggiore said, cite a number of reasons for the spraying, which include “geo-engineering,” an effort to reduce global climate change. ADEQ has no proof chemicals are being sprayed into the atmosphere over the state, though Baggiore said ADEQ has also been accused of being part of the chemtrail conspiracy.

“I’ve also seen articles claiming it is an effort by the federal government and/or international governments to control the weather as a tactic of warfare,” Baggiore said. “Others include population control and corporate conspiracy.

The most popular corporate conspiracy one that I’ve seen is a company that makes seeds for plants, that they have developed an aluminum-resistant crop, and by dispersing aluminum throughout the world, it will force people to buy their product.

“The other is health care-related, where they are trying to either eliminate certain portions of the population or cause them to need medical care, and therefore spend their money on medical issues and provide riches to those in that profession.”

Contrails, Baggiore said, are exhaust gases emitted by airplanes.

“As the airplane is flying at a high enough altitude, the water that forms through the combustion process, along with the other water that’s already in the atmosphere, condenses into ice and persists in the atmosphere for a certain period of time. It’s completely dependent on the meteorological conditions at the location where the jet is,” Baggiore said.

Litrell said such a broad conspiracy is likely to make people take notice.

“When you see it going from the U.S. to China, you have to say, ‘What’s going on?’” Litrell said.

Rayner, meanwhile, attributed the conspiracy to social networking sites and other online sources.

“The Internet is contributing to the mass hysteria,” Rayner said.