89 Iowa Counties Adopt Master Matrix Resolution for 2018

Once again, our members called on supervisors in all 99 Iowa counties to pass a resolution allowing them to use the Master Matrix. Supervisors in 89 counties responded to the call and passed the resolution, allowing them to recommend denial of factory farm applications in 2018.

The Master Matrix is one of the few ways counties and citizens can weigh in on factory farm construction in their communities. We know it’s far from perfect, but the Master Matrix is all we have right now. Until we get a moratorium and local control, this is one tool we have to fight factory farms and protect our communities and environment.

For the first time ever, Decatur County Passed the Master Matrix resolution in 2018! The counties that did not pass the Master Matrix this year have historically abdicated this power by refusing to pass the resolution: Osceola, Plymouth, Warren, Mahaska, Keokuk, Washington, Wapello, Davis, Lee, and Des Moines counties.

The biggest push-back CCI members hear from counties that don’t adopt the Master Matrix is based on the complaint that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources ignores recommendations made by counties, despite their utilization of the Master Matrix. 

Supervisors and residents in these counties feel as if they have no say in what takes place in their own back yard. This shows the need for local control and for the DNR to honor the voices of Iowa citizens standing up against corporate polluters. Now, our members are taking the next step to get supervisors to use their influence and voice to challenge this rigged system. One in five counties have called for more protections  from the factory farm industry, either by passing resolutions or writing letters to the legislature for a moratorium, local control, and/or strengthening the Master Matrix. CCI members are calling on more county supervisors to join the chorus.