Iowa Hog Lot Controversy Far From Over
by Shawn Harmsen, KIMT-TV, Mason City
Supporters
of a Worth County livestock ordinance say their fight for a cleaner
environment isn't over. Iowa's Supreme Court struck down the
ordinance [last week]. That decision could fertilize a new debate
less than four weeks before Election Day.
For supporters and authors of a Worth County ordinance regulating livestock facilities, a sense of disbelief.
What
was struck down was essentially a local health ordinance which
attempted, among other things, to test and regulate air quality around
factory-style farm operations.
Struck down because the court didn't want to see a different hog lot ordinance in each of Iowa's 99 counties.
But don't look for a court decision to end this often passionate argument.
“I
will never stop saying the [factory farms] are a detriment to the
health of our people,” says Dr. Stephanie Seemuth, who helped write the
ordinance. “I will never stop saying this.”
A
message Stephanie hopes will convince voters to put some new lawmakers
in Des Moines, now that the courts have said “no” to local control.
(Click here to read the complete story.)
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