DWD FEBRUARY 2025 NEWSLETTER
A Month of Action
Pipelines and agricultural polluters were targets of Driftless Water Defenders’ court actions in February. DWD joined opponents of the Summit Carbon CO2pipeline who are appealing the Iowa Utility Commission’s (IUC) decision to allow the pipeline’s owners to exercise eminent domain to construct the project. DWD also is challenging DNR’s issuance of a water use permit to Supreme Beef, and confronting water contamination coming from a big slaughterhouse in Postville by filing a federal civil lawsuit under the Clean Water Act. DWD’s commitment to enforcing the law reflected heightened citizen activism in Iowa about Big Ag pollution. Iowa’s newsrooms paid close attention.
The DWD benefit folk music concert on May 8 is taking clear shape. Native born singer-songwriter Greg Brown leads a stellar lineup of Iowa’s masterful folk artists. Financial sponsors for the event will have a unique opportunity meet privately with the musicians prior to the event. General admission tickets for the evening concert at Steyer Opera House in the Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah are quickly selling and may be obtained at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/driftless-water-defenders-benefit-concert-tickets-1233854775849?aff=oddtdtcreator.
There’s a lot of action on farm-related environmental and public health threats in Des Moines. House lawmakers are considering six bills to make it harder to build carbon pipelines. The Iowa Farmers Union opposes a bill approved by a Senate committee to immunize pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits. On February 25, the Iowa Cancer Registry released its latest report on the state’s cancer rate showing that our state leads the nation with this troubling statistic.
Here's how February unfolded for DWD:
On February 6 DWD filed a motion in the Iowa District Court seeking an opportunity to intervene to challenge the IUC’s approval of the Summit Carbon pipeline across Iowa. The DWD motion argued that in approving the 688-mile pipeline, which would cross 29 Iowa counties, the IUC failed to consider the consequences that the hazardous liquid pipeline and its use by state ethanol refineries would have on the quality of water and the quantity of water used
On February 11 DWD filed a citizen’s Petition for Judicial Review in Iowa District Court to challenge the DNR’s decision to renew a water use permit to Supreme Beef, which feeds thousands of cattle just a few hundred feet from the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek in Clayton County, one of the state’s purest cold-water streams. Waste from Supreme Beef’s cattle feeding operation threatens Bloody Run Creek and groundwater in the area.
(Summit Pipleline Network)
On February 20 DWD attorney James Larew, in his capacity as a private practice attorney specializing in civil rights and environmental law, addressed a state Senate subcommittee to oppose a resolution that calls for a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would repeal and replace Iowa's Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund with a new fund aimed at lowering property taxes. Iowa voters approved the Trust Fund in 2010 with 63% support. It was intended to be filled with a portion of any new sales tax revenue. But it has sat empty since its approval because Iowa has not raised the sales tax. The three-member Senate subcommittee voted 2-1 in favor of the resolution, sending it to the full State Government Committee for consideration.
On February 24 DWD filed a Complaint in the Federal District of Iowa against Agri Star Meat & Poultry, LLC, and Agri Star General, Inc., for violating the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). Agri Star owns and operates an agricultural processing facility in Postville, Iowa that DWD has alleged 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. https://www.driftlesswaterdefenders.com/news-1/driftless-water-defenders-files-federal-clean-water-lawsuit-against-agri-star-for-polluting-iowas-yellow-river-and-hecker-creek
Attracting Attention
DWD’s targeted legal challenges attracted significant newsroom attention in February. Here is how we’re being covered:
February 19 - Sentient - Iowa Slaughterhouse Routinely Pollutes Waterways With Excessive Waste, Advocacy Groups Allege - James Larew, counsel for the Driftless Water Defenders board of directors, was quoted in the Sentient: “We’ve got a very powerful structure of industrial agriculture that has found a way to feel immune to the pressures of individual citizens to rebuff them, particularly on political fronts.”
February 7 - Iowa News Now - Environmental group challenges Summit pipeline as Iowa lawmakers push anti-pipeline laws - Jim Larew said the Iowa Utilities Commission ignored a key factor in its decision: the impact on Iowa’s water supply. "We reviewed the record carefully and could find no evidence that those issues had been considered, none at all of the water quality issue."
February 3 - Iowa News Now - Iowa Meatpacking plant faces legal threat over repeated, “unchecked” pollution - “Driftless Water Defenders claims state enforcement has been inadequate, despite Agri Star’s long history of violations. The company has been involved in at least five Environmental Protection Agency enforcement cases in Iowa over the past two decades.”
January 31, 2025 - Cedar Rapids Gazette - Supreme Beef water dispute headed to court - “Iowa DNR has been charged by citizens with protecting our natural resources and overseeing the safety of our drinking water," said Chris Jones, president of the Driftless group. "Here they choose once again to prioritize exploitation over protection of one the last remaining streams in Iowa still clinging to a shred of its original integrity.
Cancer in Iowa
The increasing citizen restiveness over Big Ag-related pollution comes as the Iowa Cancer Registry published its latest report on trends in state cancer disease and incidence on February 25. Last year the Iowa Cancer Registry predicted 21,000 new, invasive cancer diagnoses in 2024, and 6,100 cancer-related deaths. The report projected more cancer deaths and disease -- 6,300 deaths, 21,200 new cases -- but offered no causes or sources for Iowa’s rising cancer incidence, the second highest among all states.
