A Polk County judge has reversed the decision of the Iowa DNR to issue a permit for a massive cattle feedlot near the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek.
The creek is a prized location for trout in northeast Iowa and the Iowa chapters of the Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited filed suit saying a faulty manure management plan was used. Judge Scott Rosenberg’s ruling says the D-N-R used “illogical interpretations and applications to approve a nutrient management plan for the feedlot.” Sierra Club attorney, Wally Taylor applauded the ruling.
“They have to follow their own rules and they didn’t do it in this case,” he says. Taylor says the judge made it clear that the DNR does not have unlimited discretion. “What they did was because Supreme Beef’s operation didn’t fit the rules, DNR tried to make the rules fit Supreme Beef. And the judge said that’s not going to work,” Taylor explains.
Bloody Run Creek is in Clayton County, a part of the state known for its environmentally sensitive porous limestone. “I think the judge’s ruling shows clearly how inappropriate, and how mixed up the rules are for a livestock operation,” he says. The DNR feedlot permit would have allowed an 11,600-head cattle feedlot operation.
The ruling sends the case back to the DNR for reconsideration.
(By Clay Masters, Iowa Public Radio)