Hold polluters accountable

Iowa Agricultural companies cited for water discharge violations under the Clean Water Act appear to have little to fear from state regulators.

Sentient, a nonprofit news organization, dug into records and found that only one of the 38 agricultural violators identified this year, only one has been fined. And that fine has been dubbed a “sweetheart deal” by advocates who are suing the company.

The firms are violating the terms of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, NPDES, is intended to regulate waste coming from point sources, such as plants that process agricultural products.

The permit is an agreement between the local water utility in which the company agrees to pretreat its waste before it is sent to a municipal wastewater plant. The treatment plant takes additional steps before releasing water into a waterway.

Agri Star Meat and Poultry LLC in Postville was fined just $50,000 in July by Attorney General Brenna Bird, acting on behalf of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, for 60 violations in recent years.

But Agri Star is the only company to be penalized this year, but it isn’t the only company that regularly violates its permit, according to Sentient.

Deb El Food Products LLC, a liquid egg company in New Hampton, has discharged wastewater that exceeded limits for toxic compounds. Instead of a fine, the company adopted a five-part plan to address the violations.

“A fluid milk and dairy producer, DFA Dairy Brands Fluid LLC, violated its agreement with Le Mars in northwest Iowa for three consecutive months this year, sending hundreds of pounds of excessive nitrogen and ammonia to a small, resource-strapped public water system for treatment,” Sentient reported.

“Green Plains Renewable Energy describes itself as “ a leading ag-tech company using innovative processes to transform annually renewable crops into sustainable, high-value ingredients.” The company was non-compliant with its NPDES permit every month, in all tested categories, from November 2024 to June 2025. This is nothing new for the company, which has violated its NPDES permit every year since 2021,” Sentient found.

At the same time, the Trump administration is weakening regulations and pollution rules enforcement administered by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Washington Post reports that only nine major cases against polluters have been filed by the Justice Department this year, compared to 46 during the same time during the Biden administration and 53 cases brought during the early months of President Donald Trump’s first term.

All of this is the latest evidence that Iowa’s state government cares far more about the profitability of agricultural industries and operations than it cares about clean water. Behind the platitudes praising conservation and “progress,” are sweetheart deals, nitrate pollution from farmland, algae-choked lakes and closed beaches.

For a brief time, we could look to the EPA for help holding polluters accountable. But now EPA regulations have been declawed as the agency absorbs large personnel cuts.

We urge the Iowa DNR and others to do far more to protect the state’s environment and punish polluters, although we’re not optimistic. The only way now to address this dismal situation is political change at the ballot box. Make sure candidates have an actual plan for cleaning up our environment, not just platitudes.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com