Jeff Vonk, Director of the Iowa DNR, was the guest speaker at the Webster
City League of Women Voters this evening.  The League had prepared a number
of questions about CAFOs and it was anticipated that he would talk about
the roadblocks facing the department as they tried to regulate CAFOs.

Mr. Vonk began by outlining the legislation that had been enacted by the
Iowa legislature from 1969 when the first regulations were exercised toward
open feedlots with 100 or more cattle until the present.

He is currently exercising leadership in proposing a reorganization of the
department in order to create a structure that is more visible to the
public and provides better service.  He sees a need for intradepartmental
communication and communication between departments.  Fisheries men,
foresters, water quality experts all need to talk to each other.   He has
heard a lot of horror stories about the DNR but people will say their local
man is a good man; the department is bad.

He said that communication is important.  "You can never take enough time
to communicate."  He said we need to focus on outcomes, get people in
government to step back and look at the bigger picture.

In answer to the question about the problems created by CAFOs he mentioned
leaking lagoons.  It has been customary in Iowa to "grandfather in" old
structures when new rules are applied and he suggests that these facilities
should be brought up to standard.

Another problem is shoddy construction on unpermitted sites.

Land application is another significant problem.  For the past five years
there has been slightly less than one fish kill a week in Iowa.  64% of
these are related to animal operations, and 16% to fertilizer
applications.  Fish populations are not a good measure of stream health,
because in some areas there are no fish left.

Another potential problem is saturation of nutrients in the soil.

The governmental bodies that can help are:
DNR with its responsibility for environmental protection
The legislature
The Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship which administers
programs to help farmers improve land stewardship
The Count and State Departments of Health
ISU research which looks for solutions
NRCS offering technical assistance with offices in every county

A nurse asked a series of questions about health effects, saying the
bacteria can be found in the air for 12 1/2 miles around these
facilities.  She can remember the swine flue epidemic and is concerned
about a similar event.  She is also concerned about the use of selenium in
cattle feed.  It is a toxic heavy metal and accumulates in the soil.  She
believes other countries might begin to refuse to buy midwestern feed
because of the selenium contained in it.  Her third concern was the cost of
clean up of these facilities which would cost $250,000 including the cost
of cleaning up the heavy metal.  Mr. Vonk said he could not comment on any
of these.

A participant concerned about the establishment of yet another poultry
facility in Wright County by a known permit violator asked what an average
citizen could do in response to such a threat. Mr. Vonk said he could
vote.  "At the end of the day when they have met the statute and observed
the law the DNR has to issue the permit. If enough people think this is
wrong you have to organize, quiz candidates about issues..."

The DNR has proposed a number of things over the years that have never
gotten out of committee, for example, local control.  Mr. Vonk proposes
instead to dialog with legislators about what they are willing to do. "I
can't enforce laws that don't exist."

He expects the governor to bring up the issue of local control again.  He
thinks the phosphorus standard for manure application would be a good idea.

He also has a concern about allowing the lowering of the water table.  This
is done in order to comply with a required separation distance.  In his
opinion this is not sustainable over time. He mentioned that he was here
during the floods of '93. When you have a dramatic effect on a natural
system it is a only matter of time until that system won't be
functioning.  It cannot function on a sustained basis.

When a man pointed out that the department was given the authority to enact
rules for the past twelve years, Mr. Vonk responded that there is a lot of
debate about whether CAFO emissions are a problem.  He, himself, has no
opinion on the matter.  In response to concerns that have been expressed
about air quality issues, he has asked ISU and the University of Iowa to do
a literature search on the subject of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide and
report to the department in February.  At that time they will consider
whether they should propose any rules regulating the emissions.

In response to a question about whether they are taking steps to counter
bio-terrorism, he mentioned that public health issues were addressed when
foot and mouth disease became a concern and the same group has begun to
think about bio-terrorism as well.

There was another question about who set the size of the fines imposed by
the DNR.  Mr Vonk replied that the department did that.  They are not
allowed to levy a fine above $10,000 and for that purpose they refer to the
Attorney General's Office.

Mr. Vonk pointed out that volunteer water quality monitors pick a site they
would like to monitor and monitor there.  He suggested that it might be
more useful if the department directed some of that to areas where it was
needed.

Peggy Murdock

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