DNR response due tomorrow

July 12 EPA report was harshly critical of DNR’s factory farm enforcement program

A 60-day deadline for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue a formal response in writing to a July 12 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criticizing Iowa’s factory farm enforcement program is due tomorrow, September 11.

EPA released the long-awaited report on July 12, finding that critical elements of Iowa’s program to regulate water pollution from factory farms fail to meet minimum federal requirements.

The report is a response to a nearly five-year-old petition by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI), Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), and the Sierra Club, which alleged widespread failures to regulate illegal factory farm discharges and asked EPA to withdraw Iowa’s authority to run the state’s Clean Water Act permitting program.

The EPA report stated that the DNR has failed to:

•  issue permits to factory farms when required,

•  does not have an adequate factory farm inspection program,

•  frequently fails to act in response to manure spills and other environmental violations,

•  does not assess adequate fines and penalties when violations occur, and

•  state setback distances for manure application do not meet federal requirements.

“Iowans can’t afford to wait any longer,” said Lori Nelson, CCI Board President from Bayard. “The DNR has a responsibility to deliver proposals for substantial changes to business as usual.”