CCI Tells EPA: DNR Dropping Ball on Clean Water Act Enforcement
DNR Dropping Ball on Clean Water Act, CCI Members Told EPA Feb 11 In Des Moines
Iowa CCI members told top EPA Region 7 officials on Feb 11 that the Iowa DNR is failing to meet factory farm inspection, permitting, and fines and penalties requirements
A dozen members met with top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 officials in Des Moines on February 11 to discuss the Iowa DNR’s implementation of a Clean Water Act work plan agreement signed last September.
Members told EPA Region 7 attorneys David Cozad, Dan Breedlove, and EPA Region 7 Water Director Karen Flournoy that the DNR’s track record has been poor since September on key Clean Water Act work plan criteria like factory farm inspections, new permit rulemaking, and fines and penalties.
“We’re seeing a lot of serious problems out there,” Brenda Brink, a member from Huxley, told EPA staff. “The DNR is dropping the ball and we want to know what the EPA is going to do about it.”
Members ended the meeting by giving EPA staff a letter addressed to Region 7 Administrator and President Obama-appointee Karl Brooks that spelled out some of the specific problems CCI members were finding as they audit the DNR’s records.
Brooks was also in Des Moines that day, but spent his time at the Agribusiness Association’s annual convention.
Members asked the EPA to push DNR to make their records more transparent, to strengthen proposed Clean Water Act rules to ensure factory farm polluters will obtain an operating permit, and to use the inspections to crack down on potential pollution problems before manure spills occur rather than waiting until after Iowa’s water quality is impacted before taking action.
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