Sierra Club is a member of the Coalition described below. Our state
politicians believe they can ignore us without consequence. Are they right?
We must ACT. Or else give it up and accept our fate.
See how you can help below. Thank you,
Donna
_____
From: I'M for Iowa [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:02 PM
Subject: "Something Stinks!" by Lynn Heuss
Dear Friends,
Last Wednesday, I attended parts of the Livestock Odor Study Committee
meeting. I did so because I'M for Iowa is part of the Coalition for a
Healthy and Sustainable Iowa (CHSI), which is working for responsible
regulation of hog confinements.
One presentation was from Dr. Sean Fitzsimmons, a Senior Environmental
Specialist with the DNR's Air Quality Bureau. He basically told us: a)
there are no odor standards in Iowa, b) there isn't any verifiable way to
test odor, since c) there are also no criteria to test levels of odor to
measure against the odor standards we don't have. Not only is that
confusing, it's depressing. It's incredible that Iowa doesn't have odor
standards when we have the highest number of hogs of any state in the
nation.
According to many Iowa legislators, there is little hope that things will
change soon. At the meeting, Rep. Delores Mertz (D-Kossuth) stated that
Iowa does not need new bills or more rules, just more money for the DNR
(Department of Natural Resources) and IDALS (Iowa Department of Agriculture
and Land Stewardship).
We also heard from Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Northey, who said we need
to be using biofilters - lots of them - and we should monitor them. We
should also add "robustness" to odor modeling. (I'm not sure what that
means, and the public did not have the opportunity to ask questions.)
Finally, we have to "do things" that are measurable.like planting trees to
block odor and reducing protein in the animals' diets to minimize the
stench.
The last speaker of the day, DNR Director Rich Leopold, addressed the
committee with four points. The following are direct quotes:
1. "There is a problem.
2. "There is a perceived problem that is larger than the actual problem.
The public thinks the problem is growing, but I disagree.
3. "We know enough about the problem to present solutions and to act on
those solutions.
4. "It is our (DNR, IDALS, ISU, industry) responsibility to do something
about the problem."
Leopold also commented on the matrix when Senator Jack Kibbie asked if
re-visiting or fixing the matrix might be the best way to accomplish change.
Leopold said, in another direct quote, "I'm not for or against it [the
matrix]. I'm for talking about it."
Although always a proponent of collegial efforts, I was disappointed to hear
Secretary Northey and Director Leopold make several comments about the
camaraderie they're developing as they work together on several initiatives.
My disappointment stems from hearing nothing about any results from these
joint efforts.
To summarize the morning session of the committee, I learned the end goal is
additional money for ISU to do more studies. It appears that many of the
legislature's designated experts believe the solution to CAFO odor problem
is:
1. Plant trees.
2. Put up biofilters in or around lots of buildings and monitor them.
3. Spend more money on additional academic reports and research -
although previous studies have amounted to absolutely no action and no
changes.
Citizen Patrick Bosold from Fairfield offered a better suggestion in his
letter to The Des Moines Register today.
"The Clean Water Act gives the DNR the authority to crack down on CAFO water
pollution. Unfortunately, the DNR refuses to enforce the Clean Water Act and
improve the quality of our water. It needs to stop siding with corporate
agriculture and big-money interests that pollute our waters, and start
standing up for everyday Iowans. This means that the DNR needs to start
issuing Clean Water Act permits to CAFOs - and not issuing, or withdrawing,
permits for CAFOs that don't comply with the act."
And in the October 28 Des Moines Register, columnist Richard Doak had this
to say:
"We have what much of the world would, and sometimes does, kill for -
abundant fresh water.
"Yet, as has been said before and can't be said often enough, we treat our
water like dirt.
"In a world growing desperate for fresh water, we have plenty, but we show
it no respect.
"We dump farm chemicals and manure in it, we turn it brown, we let municipal
waste flow into it, we channelize it and make it barren, we often can't swim
or fish in it. We send nutrients downstream to create a dead zone in the
Gulf of Mexico.
"We have three times more impaired bodies of water than we have counties,
and our namesake river, the Iowa, is on the list of the nation's most
endangered.
"If states could be guilty of sin, Iowa would be on the road to perdition
for defiling a precious gift.
"The state government claims to be making progress in cleaning up the water,
but there's a long way to go before it sparkles enough to be the attraction
to newcomers and the delight to old-timers that it should be." (End of
article)
I've vented a bit, but that's never where a truly concerned citizen stops.
It's time to do something! If this is an issue that affects you (and it
affects every Iowan) please join us.
The Coalition for A Healthy and Sustainable Iowa's purpose statement is:
"We are calling for a temporary moratorium on new construction of industrial
livestock facilities (CAFOs) until the negative impacts of industrial
livestock production on water quality, air quality, property rights,
independent local farmer's financial profits, health and quality of life
have been thoroughly addressed in a responsible manner, for the majority of
Iowans, by the Iowa Legislature.
"The legislative means to do so may be accomplished by restoring the local
authority of the county boards of supervisors, as well as establishing
stronger protective and enforceable statewide environmental and health
standards."
Here's how you can get involved:
1. Host a house party to help educate family, friends and neighbors.
This isn't just a rural issue - it affects everyone. We have excellent
speakers who can bring their presentation to your home or event site. You
can contact Francis Thicke at: [log in to unmask] or Jerry Peckumn at:
[log in to unmask]
2. Sign the petition from Iowa Farmer's Union (www.iafu.org) or Iowa CCI
(www.iowacci.org).
3. Find out who your legislators are, then call or write them. You can
go to www.legis.state.ia.us and find out who represents you. Tell them you
want a temporary moratorium on issuing any new permits for CAFOs until
everyone can sit down and find a solution that meets the criteria of our
purpose statement. If you need more information on your legislator or
on the issue, please write and ask. If I don't have it, I can pass along
your request to someone who will be able to answer you.
4. Respond to this e-mail and let us know if you'd like to join the
coalition. If so, please include your contact information: name, address,
city, state, zip, phone(s) and e-mail(s).
5. We'll have a coalition website soon and it will be under the
"Information" section of our website (www.imforiowa.org) in the next week or
two.
6. If you'd like to be part of a listserve (an internet information and
discussion group) please write to Dave Murphy at: [log in to unmask]
7. We'll be having several lobby days at the State Capitol this year. We
want to show our representatives that Iowans do care about this issue. If
you can attend a rally, please mark your calendar for January 17 and March
4. More information will be available soon.
Toward the end of his editorial, Richard Doak said, "The way to show
gratitude for nature's gifts is to respect them."
Please -- let's respect our land, our air, our water, our neighbors and
ourselves enough to do something. We can make a difference!
Thanks for reading and please write.
Lynn Heuss
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