Cerro Gordo board puts moratorium on animal confinements

The Cerro Gordo County board has passed a one-year moratorium on building large animal confinement operations. The county health department’s Ron Osterholm says using Iowa’s health code instead of zoning or sitting rules will let regulators examine the health implications of giant feedlots. He says while you may hear that the information’s all there, it’s not and while some answers are suggested by existing data, there’s nothing conclusive that proves health effects one way or another. Osterholm says there are single pollutants that might not measure in the danger zone around a big animal feedlot.He says if you combine ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, each chemical is below the threshold level, but combined, they’re dangerous. Osterholm says if the counties ever take complete control of large-scale animal confinements, it’ll cost them. Cost to maintain equipment year-round, staff time, legal fees, all things the supervisors should be aware of. Osterholm says the goal of the one-year moratorium is to collect information for an environmental and public health background database.