The leader of the Iowa Senate says he’s frustrated that state officials are allowing construction of an earthen waste-water lagoon for a proposed poultry plant near Dows. Senate Republican leader Stewart Iverson, who’s from Dows, says it’s clear to him building the lagoon will alter the water table surrounding it, and that should justify denying a construction permit to EnvironEggs Production Company. But he says DNR staff told him they don’t have that authority. While Iverson admits the poultry plant will likely be built, he says he’s drafting a new law to give the DNR explicit authority to turn down construction permits in such cases. The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, at a Monday hearing, declined to re-vote permits for a confinement operation that will house nearly 2 million hens. The lagoon that’s being built will store water that’s used to wash off the eggs.
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