IOWA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
February 22, 2007
For immediate release

1. Bio-energy and emergency response on Environmental Protection Commission's March agenda
2. DNR-funded conservation practices reduce water pollution in 2006
3. Iowa biologists fight to save North America's sleepiest turtle
4. Nutrient management plan form available from DNR
5. Environmental regulatory workshops for Iowa's construction and demolition industry

BIO-ENERGY AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMISSION'S MARCH AGENDA

MEDIA CONTACT:  Lisa Nissen at (515) 281-5384 or Tammie Krausman at (515) 281-8382

DES MOINES - The Environmental Protection Commission will learn about bio-energy and the DNR's emergency response unit at its March 6 meeting.

At 11:30 a.m. commissioners will hear an overview of how the DNR's emergency response unit functions and its role in homeland security. The unit provides 24-hour technical assistance during a hazardous condition. For example, staff provide advice to DNR field staff, the city fire department and environmental clean-up crews to ensure that toxic substances such as ammonia, mercury or petroleum products are contained and cleaned up properly.

In another presentation at 10 a.m., Pat Hirl, P.E., Ph.D., will discuss technology for bio-energy and waste-to-energy programs. Hirl is a process engineer with Stanley Consultants. He has recently worked to develop renewable energy by converting organic matter to methane.

Commissioners will be asked to approve an update to the fourth quarter intended use plans for the clean water and drinking water state revolving loan funds.

In other action, commissioners will be asked to approve nine contracts totaling $558,484 for solid waste landfill diversion projects. Most of the contracts establish industrial waste reduction and recycling projects.

The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the DNR Air Quality Building, 7900 Hickman Road in Urbandale. Public participation is scheduled for 11 a.m.

The meeting is open to the public.

The complete agenda follows:
* Approval of Minutes
* Director's Remarks
* Contract - Williams and Company, CPA, P.C. - Onsite Wastewater Assistance Program Financial Agent
* Contract - Ayres Associates/Yahara Software - Internet Database for County and State Onsite Wastewater Program
* Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund - 2007 Intended Use Plans Fourth Quarter Updates
* Solid Waste Alternatives Program - Recommendations
* Final Rule - Chapter 64 - Sewer Extension Construction Permit  Provisions
* Final Rule - Chapter 67 - Standards for the Land Application of Sewage Sludge
* Final Rule - Chapter 81 - Operator Certification: Public Water Supply Systems And Wastewater Treatment Systems
* Notice of Intended Action - Water Supply Chapters 40 and 43:  Minor Water Main Construction Permit
* Referrals to the Attorney General
a) Country Stores of Carroll, Ltd., dba LeMars Country Store (LeMars) - Underground Storage Tanks
b) Central Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC (Goldfield) - Air Quality
c) Feinberg Metals Recycling, Corp. (Fort Madison/Lockridge) - Stormwater, Solid Waste, Hazardous Conditions
d) River Bluff Resort, LLC / C.J. Moyna & Sons, Inc. / P.A. McGuire Construction, Inc. (McGregor) - Stormwater
* Appeal Of Proposed Contested Case Decision - Jordan Branstad
* Air Quality - Title V Fee Budget Review
* Monthly Reports
* General Discussion
* Next Meeting: April 3, 2007 - Ames
* Items for next month's meeting

More information about the agenda items can be found on the DNR Web site under Commissions and Boards at www.iowadnr.gov. 

The members of the commission are Jerry Peckumn, chair, Jefferson; Francis Thicke, vice chair, Fairfield; Lisa Davis-Cook, secretary, West Des Moines; Donna Buell, Spirit Lake; Mary Gail Scott, Cedar Rapids; David Petty, Eldora; Suzanne Morrow, Storm Lake; Henry Marquard, Muscatine and Darrell Hanson, Manchester. The director of the DNR is Richard Leopold. 

Writer: Karen Grimes
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DNR-FUNDED CONSERVATION PRACTICES REDUCE WATER POLLUTION IN 2006

MEDIA CONTACT: Becky Schwiete at (515) 242-6196.

DES MOINES - Conservation practices installed in fiscal year 2006 kept more than 18,000 tons of soil from reaching Iowa streams and lakes, according to numbers released today by the DNR. Put that amount of soil in dump trucks, and you'd have a line of trucks almost six miles long.

The numbers indicate that conservation practices on agricultural and urban land are effectively reducing pollutants reaching Iowa's water. Local watershed projects work with landowners to install conservation practices in a watershed, which is an area of land that drains into a lake or stream. Common conservation practices include wetlands, ponds, terraces and buffers. These practices reduce the amount of pollutants - sediment, nutrients and bacteria - reaching a lake or stream.

Each year, the DNR helps fund a number of local watershed projects that improve Iowa's water. Of those projects, 26 reported on practices installed during federal fiscal year (FFY) 2006. From Oct. 1, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2006, those conservation practices had the following results:
* Reduced sediment reaching streams and lakes by at least 18,713 tons per year.
* Reduced phosphorus reaching streams and lakes by at least 37,606 pounds per year.

These conservation practices will continue to reduce pollutants at the same rate if they are properly maintained. The sediment and phosphorus reduction numbers only apply to practices installed in 2006 through DNR-funded watershed projects and do not reflect the total effects of all conservation practices in the state.

The DNR has tracked annual sediment and phosphorus load reductions since 2004. Practices installed in 2004, 2005 and 2006 now collectively reduce sediment reaching Iowa's waters by 57,721 tons per year and phosphorus loading by 106,728 pounds per year.

Sediment can make water cloudy, damage the habitat of fish and other aquatic life, and fill in lakes and streambeds. High levels of nutrients, like phosphorus, can cloud the water, increase drinking water costs and lead to poor aquatic life diversity.

"Reducing the amount of pollution reaching our streams and lakes is just one step in improving Iowa's water, but we hope the success we've seen this year will flow into other water quality improvement efforts," said Allen Bonini, head of the DNR's watershed improvement program. "We hope that these reductions, along with other watershed work, will help us remove some streams and lakes from Iowa's impaired waters list in the future."

The Section 319 program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides DNR funding for nonpoint pollution programs. The DNR generally funds local watershed projects in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Writer: Jessie Brown
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IOWA BIOLOGISTS FIGHT TO SAVE NORTH AMERICA'S SLEEPIEST TURTLE

MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Button, Iowa Outdoors, (515) 281-0716.

DES MOINES - The plight of a rare turtle found on the sand prairies of southeast Iowa is being closely monitored by biologists trying to save the species, according to an exclusive article by Iowa Outdoors magazine.

Given constant threats from predators, changing habitats and the occasional drought, the odds of a mud turtle surviving are slim, said Iowa Outdoors magazine contributing writer Lowell Washburn.

"The mud turtle sleeps 10 months of the year buried in sand and then begins a trek across the dunes to lay its eggs," said Washburn. "With predators like raccoons and obstacles such as downed tree trunks, some might call it a death march."
 
Counts of the mud turtles at the Big Sand Mound Nature Preserve on the Mississippi River near Muscatine have fallen from 519 adults and 168 babies in 1988, to just 37 adults and one hatchling last year, said Washburn.

But biologists and two corporations are fighting to save the endangered mud turtle. The nature preserve is a diverse 510-acre refuge owned and protected by MidAmerican Energy and Monsanto. The refuge is a sand prairie, extremely rare in the Midwest and one of Iowa's most unique ecosystems.

Together with biologists from Drake University and Mt. Mercy College, the two companies are working to monitor and protect the tiny turtle, whose hatchlings are the size of a dime.

Without the efforts, the mud turtle may be gone from Iowa within a year.

A complete history and details of the project, along with exclusive photos by Washburn, can be found in the March/April edition of Iowa Outdoors magazine. A magazine subscription can be purchased by going to: www.iowaoutdoorsmagazine.com or by calling 1-800-361-8072.

Iowa Outdoors magazine is published six times a year by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Annual subscriptions are available for just $12 a year.

Writer: Julie Tack

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NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PLAN FORM AVAILABLE FROM DNR

MEDIA CONTACT: Jeremy Klatt, (641) 424-4073, or Jeff Prier, (712) 262-4177.

DES MOINES - Large open feedlots can now use a form developed by the DNR to complete their nutrient management plans.

All open feedlot producers with 1,000 or more animal units (1,000 beef cattle or 715 dairy cattle) need to complete a nutrient management plan and start using it by July 31, 2007.

"Producers need to submit and implement the plans by July 31, and they cannot apply manure until the DNR approves the plans," said Jeremy Klatt, an environmental specialist with the Mason City DNR field office.

He added that anyone required to have a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit also needs to submit a plan.

"The nutrient plan really helps producers apply manure at crop uptake rates, while ensuring that their lots are well managed for runoff and other environmental concerns," Klatt said.

"It's a good idea for producers to review this information on a regular basis, just to make sure that environmental requirements are being met," he said.

The Nutrient Management Plan form is available on the forms page of the DNR Web site at www.iowadnr.gov/afo/index.html. Other versions are available, but all must meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's requirements.

Producers who apply for cost-share through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) are required to have a comprehensive nutrient management plan (CNMP) - available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Plans should be submitted to the regional DNR field office prior to July 31, unless submitting a construction permit application. A nutrient management plan must be submitted with any applications for a construction permit on or after April 30.

Allow 60 days for the DNR to review the plan.

Writer: Karen Grimes
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ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY WORKSHOPS FOR IOWA'S CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION INDUSTRY

DES MOINES - Commercial and residential contractors, demolition contractors, real estate agents, appraisers, property managers, building maintenance providers, local building and zoning officials, and inspectors are encouraged to attend one of five March and April workshops to educate the construction industry and other related industries about state requirements.

Topics to be covered at the workshops include asbestos, Brownfields, lead, radon, floodplains, opening burning, open dumping, contractor registration, and safety and health.

"Improper disposal of construction and demolition wastes by businesses is an enforcement priority for the DNR's solid waste program," said Dan Stipe, coordinator of the DNR's solid waste and open burning enforcement programs. "The upcoming workshops discuss several of the issues that contractors, property managers, and others need to be aware of to stay in compliance. It is encouraging to see workshops such as these offered to the regulated community."

Officials from the Iowa Department of Economic Development, the Iowa Waste Reduction Center, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Small Business Compliance Alliance will be presenting at the workshops.

Real estate agents and appraisers will receive a certificate for eight continuing education units (CEU) for attending a workshop. A $35 nonrefundable fee will be charged for registration and meal expenses. The registration deadline is March 14, 2007.

Workshops will be held from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on the following dates and locations:
March 20, 2007 - Comfort Suites Hotel and Conference Center, Burlington
March 22, 2007 - Best Western Hotel, Ankeny
March 27, 2007 - Holiday Inn at Ameristar, Council Bluffs
March 29, 2007 - Hanford Hotel, Mason City
April 10, 2007 - Clay County Regional Event Center, Spencer

Conference information and a registration form is available at: www.iowalifechanging.com/business/envworkshops.html

For more information, contact Jan Loyson with the Iowa Department of Economic Development at (515) 242-4761 or [log in to unmask].   

Writer: Jill Cornell
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