crucial litigation

It is important to note that efforts to protect Bloody Run Creek from this large CAFO began in 2017 when the project was first proposed as a combined cattle operation and methane digestor facility.

The mix of agricultural and industrial components led to inconsistencies in DNR’s review and eventual approval of the wastewater lagoon as an “industrial” lagoon. It is our contention that an agricultural manure storage lagoon could not have been approved due to the Karst nature of the site.  However, when the methane digestor was dropped from the plan, the lagoon had already been constructed, and DNR is now allowing it, we believe incorrectly, to serve as an agricultural manure lagoon.

Although the Supreme Beef operation is a CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) it is not technically a confinement, due to a specific definition in the Iowa Code.  You can define an orange as an apple, but that doesn’t make it so.  It is clear that the facility, including manure storage and handling, will operate as a confinement. However, by claiming to be an open feedlot, this very large CAFO side-stepped the entire Master Matrix review process.  As flawed as that process is, it is the only opportunity that citizens and the County have available to legitimately express concerns about environmental impacts.  So far, the entire DNR review process has given no formal consideration of the myriad of risks this facility operation and manure disposal pose to Bloody Run Creek or the other cold water trout streams in the area.  For this reason, forty-seven groups requested a special review by DNR Director Kayla Lyon under the Directors Discretion rule but were denied.

As we’ve discussed on the DNR miscalculation page, the NMP (nutrient management plan) approved is both technically and legally flawed to the point that the plan should have been rejected on its face.  We believe that political intervention is the reason that correct action was not taken by DNR staff.  When an agency takes incorrect action or refuses to act appropriately, the legal recourse is to challenge under the state Administrative Procedures Act.  This is the basis of the litigation Sierra Club and others are preparing to file.

We need your moral support and financial help.  Speak out to your state representatives, regardless of party affiliation.  Clean water is a heritage we all deserve to share.