Top EPA officials traveled to Iowa July 23 for secret meeting with Branstad Administration, Iowa DNR, and other unidentified “stakeholders”

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) members condemn secret meeting behind closed doors and demand all parties confirm involvement, topics of discussion, and any backroom deals made

 Top officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 office in Kansas traveled to Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday, July 23 for a secret, closed-door, backroom meeting with Governor Branstad’s office, senior Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff, and other so-called “stakeholders” that have not been positively identified but likely involve either  the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and/or other corporate ag lobby groups.

Top DNR and EPA officials have independently verified with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) members and the Environmental Integrity Project that the meeting took place, but both government agencies have refused to be transparent about who specifically was in the meeting, what the topics of conversation were, and if any deals were made, or even considered.  Governor Branstad’s office has not returned Iowa CCI inquiries into the matter, but a Branstad spokesperson confirmed with the Associated Press that the governor’s office was involved.

“We demand Governor Branstad, DNR Director Chuck Gipp, and EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks come clean about their secret, behind closed doors, backroom meeting and tell the public exactly who was there, and what happened,” said Lori Nelson, the CCI Board President from Bayard, Iowa. Nelson is surrounded by more than 5,000 corporate hogs.

“This process must be transparent and subject to public scrutiny and by holding a meeting in secret and refusing to answer legitimate questions, all involved parties are giving the appearance that they are about to run over the public interest in the service of a corporate agenda.”Iowa Sierra Club attorney Wally Taylor of Cedar Rapids added:  “We are concerned that Governor Branstad’s office was in the meeting to create undue influence on the negotiations between DNR and EPA, and we suspect the Iowa Farm Bureau or another corporate ag lobby group was also involved for the same purpose.”

“EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks needs to do his job and stop playing patsy with Governor Branstad,” Taylor added.

At issue is how the state of Iowa will resolve long-standing failures to adequately enforce the Clean Water Act for factory farm polluters.  Governor Branstad and the Iowa DNR appear to be taking marching orders from the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, the most powerful corporate ag lobby group in the state, and have already succeeded in replacing “inspections” with the vague term “comprehensive evaluations” in the draft work plan.

But Governor Branstad and Farm Bureau lobbyist Christina Gruenhagen are both on record disputing any oversight over thousands of factory farms large enough to require a Manure Management Plan, and it’s likely that the meeting in Iowa today was designed to pressure EPA into giving concessions on this point.“

A strong work plan agreement must include mandatory inspections and permits for every factory farm in Iowa,” Nelson said.A May 20 letter Branstad wrote to EPA officials in Washington DC specifically asked for a meeting in Iowa, not just between the governor’s office and the DNR, but also with industry leaders.  A May 31 reply by EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks agreed to meet with the governor, the DNR, and industry representatives of Branstad’s choice.

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation held its annual convention in the Des Moines-metro area July 22-23.Iowa’s water quality crisis has never appeared worse than now, with 628 polluted bodies of water, and manure and other fertilizer runoff so high that Des Moines Water Works has kept the world’s most expensive nitrate removal system running non-stop for months, costing 500,000 ratepayers $7,000 per day.

Iowa CCI is a statewide people’s action group that uses community organizing to build grassroots power and win public policy that puts communities before corporations and people before profits, politics, and polluters.

Iowa CCI members and coalition partners Environmental Integrity Project and the Iowa Sierra Club filed a de-delegation petition with the U.S. EPA in 2007, to strip DNR of its regulatory authority under the Clean Water Act for its failure to enforce federal law against factory farm polluters.