Air Quality Public Meeting Set for Thursday A second public meeting to discuss proposed hydrogen sulfide health standards for rural air will be held in Mason City on Thursday night. The meeting will be held April 1 at 6:30 P.M. at the Muse-Norris Center at North Iowa Area Community College, 500 College Drive in Mason City. The first hearing was held March 1 in Mason City. The second public hearing was recently added, due to public interest. The proposed rules are to establish a health standard for hydrogen sulfide gas in the air at rural homes and other public buildings that meet the legislative definition of a separated location. The effort is to protect Iowans living near large concentrated animal feeding operations. If approved, Iowa would be the 28th state to adopt such standards. The Iowa proposal is neither the most stringent or most lenient and is based on university health recommendations. "The bottom line is we need to be able to protect rural Iowans from breathing unhealthy levels of hydrogen sulfide gas. We have monitoring data, but need a standard, then if concerns are found, we can work with agricultural researchers to explore cost effective measures to ensure healthy rural living," said Wayne Gieselman, head of the DNR's environmental programs. He said the monitoring study is not looking at small or medium farms, but measuring hydrogen sulfide at homes near some of the largest animal feeding operations in Iowa. A fact sheet detailing the proposed health standards can be found at www.iowacleanair.com. Comments may be submitted orally or in writing during the public hearings. All comments must be received no later than April 8, 2004. Any person who intends to attend a public hearing and has special requirements, such as those related to hearing or mobility, should contact Bryan Bunton at (515) 281-6729 to advise of any specific needs. Written comments on the proposed rules should be directed to Bryan Bunton, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Air Quality Bureau, 7900 Hickman Road, Suite 1, Urbandale, IA 50322, Fax (515) 242-5094, or by electronic mail to [log in to unmask] For More information contact Brian Button at 515-281-7832 --30-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Make your voice heard! Find out how to get Take Action Alerts and other important Sierra Club messages by email at: http://www.sierraclub.org/email