Reynolds is not keeping Iowans safe, again

The toxic fire, explosion and the hospitalization of 10-15 workers at C6-Zero in Marengo was a preventable disaster. That is if Gov. Kim Reynolds were not calling the shots on how and when to regulate unsafe, polluting businesses.

The safety of workers, emergency responders and the Marengo community were put at risk because the Reynolds administration allowed this unscrupulous business to operate without proper oversight. The C6-Zero repeatedly brushed off the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and hired Terry Branstad's former chief of staff to grease the skids for their business to operate any way they wanted to.

The Marengo explosion is just the latest example of Reynolds' reckless and corrupt oversight of workplace safety and our environment. Iowans witnessed negligent oversight of Tyson and other meatpackers as they failed to protect workers during the pandemic and her approval of the rule-breaking Supreme Beef LLC’s 11,000-head, 35 million-gallons-a-year, manure producing cattle feedlot along Bloody Run Creek in Northeast Iowa. And let's not forget her virtually non-existent protection of frail seniors living in Iowa’s beleaguered nursing homes. Money and powerful special interests win every time.

Just last week in her order protecting us from TikTok, Reynolds proclaimed, “the safety of Iowans is my number one priority.” The next time she visits, she can tell that to the injured workers, their families, first responders and the people of Marengo.

State Sen. Joe Bolkcom

Iowa City