DONALDSONVILLE - A plan to cover acres of red dust in Ascension Parish is another step closer to moving forward. Ascension Parish Government says the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement has been signed by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and LAlumina and was approved by the parish council Thursday night.

The agreement must be signed by all three parties to move forward and cover the red dust, which has been plaguing Ascension Parish communities for years.

Parish President Clint Coinment says the  signing of the cooperative endeavor agreement was the first and most important step in getting a change done.

The dust is bauxite, a byproduct of processing aluminum. The CEA will address the management and closure of the LAlumina site, which the parish says is about 865 acres. The signed agreement will release approximately $5.5 million in a trust set aside for mitigation purposes. LAlumina will cover any overhead if those funds are insufficient.

Ascension Parish Governmental Affairs Director James LeBlanc told 2 On Your Side the parish started working on a closure plan nearly a year ago. The plan is to move dirt from dug retention ponds into the plant site and cover the dust. Dirt has already been staged in the area and the parish will be reimbursed for transport costs.

The primary goal is to close the site and prevent the bauxite dust from blowing up during dry conditions and affecting nearby neighborhoods and businesses.

Armando Keller lives about a quarter mile away from the dust site and says on a windy day the sky will turn orange and the dust will land on everything in its path.

"It just causes a problem for everyone in the area," he said.

The situation has been covered extensively by 2 On Your Side. Complaints with DEQ have been logged for years. In February, LAluminia said that after spending funds on sprinklers to keep the dust wet and prevent it from blowing, it learned its sprinkler system was faulty. The pipe carrying water to the area is corroded with scale. The pipe would need to be replaced, but keeping the dust wet is not a long-term solution.

"We know that the plants in this area are required to maintain their areas and if they were doing what they were supposed to be doing we wouldn't have this issue, somebody's got to be accountable for it," said Keller.

It's why Ascension Parish got involved. The process to get to this point has taken some time as the parish has been waiting on state approval. In March, the state captured drone video of the entire site. Last month, a drone survey was completed to determine the strength of the levees around the dust.

The council will hear details of the CEA Thursday night at its council meeting and pending approval will sign it into effect.