Iowa Environmental Protection Commission denies request for stricter rules for animal feeding operations

The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission voted unanimously this week to dismiss a petition seeking stricter rules for new animal feeding operations built in the karst terrain of northeast Iowa.

After hearing public comment on both sides, the nine-member board voted Tuesday in line with Iowa Department of Natural Resources recommendations to dismiss the petition filed in August by the Iowa Environmental Council and the Environmental Law & Policy Center.

DNR attorney Kelli Book said the agency will consider one of the petition’s requests — requiring at least 5 feet of soil between manure pits and bedrock — as part of a broader five-year rule-making process about the building of all structures in karst terrain. She hopes to have a draft of those rules ready by late March or early April.

But commissioners rejected other petition requests, including requiring animal feeding operations with earthen manure basins to monitor groundwater and requiring the DNR to evaluate each proposed confinement.

Environmental groups are concerned about manure leaks in karst topography because of how quickly contaminants can spread through the Swiss cheese-like bedrock to pollute drinking water wells and streams.

In April, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources approved the nutrient management plan for an 11,600-head open cattle feedlot near Monona. The facility is in the watershed of Bloody Run Creek, considered an Outstanding Iowa Waterway. The area also has karst topography, which is porous, with limestone close to the surface.

Representatives from agricultural trade groups spoke Tuesday against new rules for siting confinements.

“There are already solid rules in place regarding regulation of building manure storage in karst areas,” said Ben Nuelle, public policy director for the Iowa Pork Producers Association. “These rules were developed with years of scientific information and have proved effective.”

But others said if the rules were working, there wouldn’t be fish kills, contaminated wells or lakes with harmful algae blooms.

“I would remind this commission they are the Environmental Protection Commission, not the Agricultural Protection Commission,” said Ingrid Gronstal, water quality program manager for the Environmental Council.

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