Groups petition for livestock siting rule changes

DES MOINES ­- Two environmental and citizen advocacy groups are seeking state action to strengthen rules pertaining to the siting of large-scale livestock feeding operations in rural communities.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch filed a petition Tuesday with the state Department of Natural Resources seeking to strengthen the master matrix - a scoring system for confinement animal feeding operations in Iowa.

In their petition, the groups claim legislation created 15 years ago has failed to live up to the promise of giving communities a greater voice in the siting of factory farms and protections from the pollution they create.

'Iowans are dealing with a factory farm industry that is polluting our water and our air and degrading our quality of life,” CCI member Barb Kalbach of Dexter told the state Environmental Protection Commission. 'DNR's weak rules are letting factory farms get away with gaming the system at the expense of everyday Iowans. We need changes to the master matrix now.”

Petitioners contended the master matrix was designed to provide a comprehensive review of environmental and community risks that would allow counties to recommend denial of facilities deemed to have potentially harmful effects. But, they contend the matrix developed by the DNR has been little more than a rubber stamp. The agency has denied only 2.2 percent of applications under the current criteria.

'With counties and citizens across the state demanding reform of the broken matrix process, the time is ripe for DNR to act,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch.

Among other things, the petition seeks a higher minimum passing score, requiring applicants to earn more of the possible points to obtain a permit; a one-time enrollment for counties, rather than the current requirement for counties to readopt the master matrix every year; revisions to the point structure to offer incentives for practices that prevent or mitigate pollution; new criteria that consider factors unaddressed by the matrix; elimination of criteria that do not provide meaningful environmental or community benefits; and changes to strengthen existing criteria, such as increased separation distances from schools, homes, public use areas, waterways, and wells.

Unless the petitioners agree to an extension, DNR will have 60 days to act by either granting the petition and initiating a rule-making or denying the petition, which could be subject to review in state court.