I received this from Iowa Environmental Council.
Jane Clark

Now is a crucial time to submit letters to the editor to your local
papers calling for legislative action.   Contact your legislators, too, and
tell them you want to see some changes regarding manure management in Iowa.

I have pasted in Dave Hurd's editorial, which ran in the Des Moines
Register yesterday.
==============

The Myths Surrounding Livestock Manure Management
By G. David Hurd
Ran in Des Moines Register (2/15/01)


The time is right for Iowa legislators to take action on a difficult but
solvable problem that is critical to Iowans' quality of life: Livestock
manure pollution. They have shown they can lead on making improvements
to Iowa's environment; they did so the last two sessions when they
funded water quality programs.

Many reasons are given for not taking action. Here's why the Iowa
Environmental Council respectfully disagrees.

Some have suggested our existing laws just "need time to work." Although
we have seen some improvement based on legislation passed in the 1990s,
significant problems affecting Iowans have not been addressed:
-- Our laws don't keep manure away from particularly valuable and
vulnerable resources. Right now, manure is being stored and spread next
to sources of our drinking water, state parks, and popular fishing and
boating areas.
-- Our laws don't keep manure out of floodplains. Right now, large
quantities of manure are being stored in 100-year floodplains, making
our waterways particularly vulnerable to contamination from catastrophic
spills during flood events.
-- Our laws don't require air quality monitoring near large confinement
facilities. Studies show that people living near large confinement
operations are experiencing health problems as well as a diminished
quality of life.
-- Our laws don't use phosphorus to determine appropriate manure
application rates. When land application rates of manure are based
solely on nitrogen, phosphorus accumulates and leads to pollution of
water bodies and the death of fish and other aquatic life.

Taking action on these problems is important, because this is not a
"nuisance" issue but a human health issue. People living near large
animal feeding operations, including farmers who have been there for
generations, are reporting sore throats, excessive coughing, diarrhea,
and headaches. Researchers, including many at the University of Iowa and
in other states such as North Carolina and Minnesota, have documented
these health problems. Legislative leaders and state agencies such as
the Iowa Department of Public Health must recognize and respond to these
concerns.

Taking action is acting FOR the family farmer, not against. Right now,
rural Iowa is suffering. As Blaine Nickles, a farmer in Wright County
says, "Large confinement operations are here to stay. But we need
adequate protections so that we can still live in our homes and have the
same quality of life that we had before."

This is an issue of statewide importance, not just a localized problem.
Certain counties have been particularly hard hit by concentrations of
livestock manure. Visit the corridor along Highway 69 in Wright County
and ask yourself if you would like to live there.

However, poor management of manure affects many of the state's urban
areas as well. Most of the major rivers in Iowa (including the Des
Moines, Iowa, Cedar, and Skunk rivers) flow through the central part of
Iowa that is home to large concentrations of livestock facilities.
Communities downstream from these facilities are experiencing water
quality problems, including high nitrate levels in drinking water
sources. In addition, fish kills and pathogens affect the waters all
Iowans use for recreation.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has proposed some changes that
would respond to many of the problems we face. The DNR proposal includes
many of the Council's priorities, including additional protections for
parks and important recreational areas, and additional staff so that the
agency can better administer its manure management programs as well as
make sure that producers are in compliance.

The Iowa Environmental Council believes the DNR proposals are fair and
reasonable. In addition, legislators should pass a bill allowing local
control over the siting of large confinement facilities, such as has
been proposed by Republican Senator Jeff Angelo. Rural Iowans feel
disenfranchised. They are simply asking for rules to protect their
quality of life and their property values.

Responsible manure management protects our drinking water sources. It
protects the health of rural Iowans. Many Iowa farmers are good land
stewards, and they follow the steps we are proposing. They don't
overload the soil with nutrients. They don't store livestock manure in
areas that frequently flood, and they don't locate their facilities near
parks and recreational areas.

The Iowa Environmental Council asks legislators and the Iowans they
represent to answer these questions:
Is doing nothing on Iowa's manure management problem the way to get
Iowans to stay?

The way to entice people to come to our state?

Perhaps most of all: Is this the way to treat people who have been here
for generations?

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