The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has renewed a water use permit for large cattle feeding operation in northeast Iowa, and water quality advocates are pushing back.
James Larew is the attorney for the Driftless Water Defenders, the primary group contesting Supreme Beef’s permit. He says they’ll appeal the decision because it isn’t the first time the DNR has failed to follow state statutes.
“In our opinion, DNR has done this consistently wrong over and over and over again,” Larew says, “and we’re trying to change that and have the DNR consider broader issues when it approves or considers water use permits.”
The decision to renew the permit comes just after an administrative law judge ruled the DNR didn’t fully consider the potential environmental impact of Supreme Beef’s water use permit.
Larew says they’ll appeal, perhaps yet this week, because the agency’s actions violate regulations designed to protect Iowans and their water.
“We think that there are statutes that is code of Iowa that have language that was intended by legislators to protect the public,” Larew says, “but they’re not being used, whether that’s in state or federal law.” The group has already petitioned for EPA intervention.
Supreme Beef’s Clayton County operation feeds almost 12,000 cattle. According to the Defenders, the DNR hasn’t denied a water use permit since the 1950s.
(By Grant Winterer, Iowa Public Radio)