Black Hawk county calls for moratorium on factory farms

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement members celebrate the 26th county to call for changes to the factory farm industry

Waterloo, IA – This morning the Black Hawk county board of supervisors passed a resolution that petitions the Governor and Iowa legislature for a moratorium on new or expanding factory farms in the state. A moratorium would stop all construction of new or expanding factory farms.

Members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement call this resolution a step in the right direction in the statewide fight for clean water.

“If we want clean water in Iowa we need a moratorium on factory farms. We have over 10,000 factory farms and hundreds more go up each year,” said Margaret Whiting a Iowa CCI member and Black Hawk resident. “It’s time to stop construction of factory farms and get serious about cleaning up our water.”

This makes Black Hawk county the 26th county to pass a resolution calling for change to industrial agriculture and specifically the factory farm industry.

“It’s time for even more counties to take a stand like Black Hawk county did this morning. We won’t get clean water by doing nothing,” said Ava Auen-Ryan, an organizer at Iowa CCI. “These resolutions show the Governor and elected state officials that Iowans have had enough, and we want them to take Iowa’s water crisis seriously. That means a moratorium.”