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Learn more about air, water quality bills

The Gazette Opinion Staff

Mar. 16, 2011 10:51 am

There are multiple bills in the Iowa Legislature that, if signed into law, will threaten our air and water quality and our ability to regulate factory farms.

HSB 148 and SSB 1126 would gut the Department of Natural Resources' factory farm enforcement program and transfer water-quality monitoring and federal Clean Water Act enforcement to the Iowa Department of Agriculture. This would put the fox in charge of the hen house.

Other bills would limit new regulations that the factory farm industry finds “burdensome” and limit citizens' ability to sue factory farm polluters. Please learn more about these bills, and if you share my concerns, contact your legislators to oppose them.

Lynn Gallagher

Solon

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