Letter to the editor: Sierra Club calls for CAFO moratorium in Iowa

1
2040
Piglets are being "depopulated" and sows given abortions as producers react to the supply-chain bottleneck following numerous slaughterhouse closures.

To the editor:

The Sierra Club Iowa Chapter calls for moratorium on new livestock confinements in Iowa.

In the first place, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to address livestock confinement air pollution. In 2005 the EPA embarked on a monitoring study of air emissions around livestock confinements (CAFOs and AFOs). The EPA inspector general recently published a report critical of the agency’s delay in completing the study and issuing recommendations that will lead to regulations on air emissions from livestock confinements.

Then there is the case of the missing CAFOs. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently discovered 5,000 previously unknown CAFOs, a quarter flouting regulations. In other words, there are more than 1,400 CAFOs in Iowa that have not been subject to any permitting requirements or a manure management plan.

How did this happen?

It happened because the regulatory process established by the Iowa Legislature depends on the good faith of the livestock industry, and now the legislature has slashed the DNR budget so the DNR will be even more hamstrung in regulating CAFOs.

For too long the legislature and the DNR have been afraid or unable to effectively regulate CAFOs. We obviously cannot depend on the good faith of the livestock industry. That is why the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter is calling for a moratorium on the construction of new CAFOs.

Enough is enough! It’s time for a moratorium on building new confined animal feeding operations and expanding existing operations.

Pam Mackey Taylor, Conservation Chair
Sierra Club Iowa Chapter
Des Moines

1 COMMENT

  1. Before this new discovery of the 5,000, there were nearly 9,000 registered CAFOs in the state. More applications are pending. All of the untreated waste from CAFOs is applied to Iowa’s farm fields. The manure runs off into the waterways. It contains chemicals that pollute the water: nitrates, E. coli bacteria, antibiotics, growth hormones and phosphorus. These pollutants make drinking water more expensive and lakes and streams undesirable for recreation. Also, the air is full of odors and harmful chemicals. Remember, these Big AG CAFO promoters were kicked out of North Carolina in the early 1990s because of the environmental damage they were causing. At that time, Gov. Branstead welcomed them to Iowa with open arms. A moratorium is needed, and citizens should demand more local control over CAFOs.

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