‘Driftless’ group sues to block Winneshiek manure digester

The Winneshiek County supervisors did not allow residents to fully opine about a recent rezoning request for a new manure digester and erred when they voted to approve that request, an environmental group alleges in court.

"This was a raucous proceeding — an autocratic process," said Jim Larew, an attorney for the Driftless Water Defenders. "People who were against the proposal were cut off."

The group's lawsuit in state District Court targets the supervisors' 3-2 vote last month to rezone an area near Ridgeway — about 15 miles west of Decorah — from an agricultural designation to industrial. That will allow Novilla RNG, of Michigan, to build and operate an anaerobic digester to capture methane from the manure of two dairies and inject it into an existing natural gas pipeline in the area.

At the supervisors' Aug. 5 meeting, Chair Dan Langreck, who voted to change the zoning, sought to limit public comments about the potential environmental ramifications of the digester. Some argued the digester would lead to dairy expansions and, consequently, an increase of manure production and pollution.

"I will let you speak as long as what you’re talking about has to do with the zoning request," he said loudly in an exchange with a member of the Driftless group.

One of the dairy farms, Full Bohr, gained permission last year from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to increase its capacity by about 900 cattle. A construction permit for the digester shows that expansion would occur alongside building the digester.

But Mark Hill, a chief executive of Novilla, said last month that the two are not intertwined: "This project is not dependent upon or requires expansion of the dairies." He did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request to comment for this article.

The Driftless group formed this year to advocate for agricultural policy and practices that improve water quality in Northeast Iowa. It alleges in the recently filed lawsuit that Langreck stifled public discussion of the zoning request and that the supervisors' decision to approve the request was unreasonable and at odds with the county's comprehensive zoning plan. The county zoning commission did not recommend approving the request.

Winneshiek County Attorney Andrew Van Der Maaten said Wednesday he had not yet reviewed the lawsuit and declined to comment.

The lawsuit asks a judge to nullify the supervisors' vote. If that happens, it's possible for the supervisors to redo the process and take the same vote.

Regardless, Larew said the lawsuit is necessary because of the environmental concerns and because "it's important how elected officials treat citizens."

Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com