Worth County explores controls over hog lots

The Worth County Board of Supervisors has tabled an ordinance, which would establish county regulations for hog confinements. The board of supervisors rejected the ordinance on its first reading, but at its meeting Wednesday the board appointed an eleven-member committee to refine it. The ordinance would regulate air emissions, water pollution, and worker safety at hog confinements to discourage future hog confinement construction in the county. Under state law, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is given sole authority to regulate hog lots. Humboldt County’s Board of Supervisors tried to establish local rules for hog confinements, but those rules were struck down by the Iowa Supreme Court in 1998.