Driftless Water Defenders Files Federal Clean Water Lawsuit Against Agri Star for Polluting Iowa’s Yellow River and Hecker Creek
Lawsuit follows Driftless Water Defenders’ 60-day notice letter sent to Agri Star.
(Decorah, Iowa) — Today, Driftless Water Defenders (“DWD”), an Iowa non-profit membership corporation focused on water issues in Iowa, filed a federal civil lawsuit against Agri Star Meat & Poultry, LLC for violating the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”).
Agri Star owns and operates an agricultural processing facility in Postville, Iowa that has a long and well-documented record of water pollution violations and enforcement actions. DWD is represented by Public Justice, FarmSTAND, and Larew Law Office.
The DWD complaint alleges that violations of the CWA occurred and continue to occur at the Agri Star processing facility. The complaint (a copy of which is attached), describes both Agri Star’s obligations and duties under the CWA and details a long series of violations of its operating permit, which DWD alleges wrongfully pollute Hecker Creek and the Yellow River. Under the CWA, a permitted facility must self-monitor and self-report its pollution discharges. Agri Star’s reports indicate significant and repeated exceedances of pollution limits in waterways adjacent to the Postville facility have occurred for years. DWD further alleges that the facility has failed to take and report sampling results for a wide range of additional pollutants.
Under the complaint, DWD seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, civil penalties, and all other relief authorized by law.
Chris Jones, President of DWD, described the reason for the notice and the group’s decision to pursue compliance with the law through a civil lawsuit: “The Yellow River has traditionally been one of Iowa’s recreational crown jewels—clean water where citizens can fish, hike, canoe and kayak. The Iowa Code describes our water as the ‘wealth' of the people. If governmental agencies won’t enforce our clean water laws, citizens must step in to do that.”
“People have the right to enjoy their local waterways, in the Driftless Region and everywhere,” said Holly Bainbridge, a staff attorney for FarmSTAND, and one of the attorneys representing DWD. “After 60 days of notice, it’s time to enforce the Clean Water Act through the courts and make Agri Star stop polluting the Yellow River and Hecker Creek.”
James C. Larew, co-counsel for DWD, stated the following: “It had been DWD’s hope that, upon serving the 60-day notice on Agri Star, with copies to the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, we would have received some communication describing meaningful new compliance actions taken by Agri Star. No such information has been provided to us. In filing a citizen suit we intend to protect these vital resources as authorized and intended by the law.”
Daniel C. Snyder, Director of the Environmental Enforcement Project at Public Justice, remarked that “Agri Star has repeatedly violated the terms of its Clean Water Act permit over the course of many years. The State has failed to secure Agri Star’s compliance with binding federal law. As a result, Driftless Water Defenders is doing exactly what Congress intended: acting as a private attorneys general to enforce the Clean Water Act when government regulators fail to do so. We look forward to litigating this matter in Court and securing Agri Star’s future compliance with its permit.”
For more information, please contact directly Daniel C. Snyder (dsnyder@publicjustice.net), Holly Bainbridge (holly@farmSTAND.org), or James C. Larew (James.Larew@LarewLawOffice.com or 319.541.4240).
Attached: Complaint filed in the Federal District Court of Iowa, Northern District
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FarmSTAND is the only legal advocacy organization in the country dedicated solely to taking on industrial animal agriculture. It is focused on dismantling the structures that enable the consolidation of corporate power and extractive practices in our food system, and supports a vision of animal agriculture that is regenerative, humane, and owned by independent farmers.
James C. Larew, of Larew Law Office, has litigated civil litigation cases for 40 years, including environmental cases for more than a decade. He serves as legal counsel for DWD. He formerly served as general counsel and chief of staff to Iowa Governor Chet Culver.
Public Justice combines high-impact litigation, strategic partnerships, and grassroots organizing with targeted communications to shape the narrative about environmental injustice and build empowering relationships with communities most affected by environmental threats and actions. The Public Justice Environmental Enforcement Project holds polluters accountable by enforcing environmental laws and winning groundbreaking results in court to protect our nation's clean water, air, and land—and the people, animals, and ecological communities that rely upon it. For more information visit PublicJustice.net.
