Scott County Board of Supervisors Gives Pass To More CAFOs

When the Scott County Board of Supervisors took public comment on Tom Dittmer's request for an expansion to existing hog confinements, the board asked that speakers address the Master Matrix (MM) and Manure Management Plan (MMP). The MMP consisted in part of 16 pages showing names and locations of farmers in Scott County who would receive manure from 2011 through 2014. The manure, which is actually a swill loaded with hydrogen sulfide and ammonia among other toxins, would total over 13 Million gallons in 2011 and over 15 Million gallons in 2014.

A lot? You bet. This all comes from one location.

Imagine my surprise when on August 19th, the board members took over 20 minutes to tell us it was all about Dittmer's integrity. Apparently, their decision did not have anything to do with chemistry and physics as it was supposed to, but was about a person's supposed character.

The board did not wait for the results of a complaint to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) about the possibility of a manure leak at the Dittmer location. They could have waited for the results, but according to a spokesperson at the DNR, the board did not even ASK for the results. According to the DNR's report, “…on-site observations of the design of the manure control system suggest that discharges of manure outside of the manure control system were designed to occur through a 'keyway'. The observation of the 'keyway' directly adjacent to the drainage tile supports the department's conclusion…”

This was by design ….intentionally done…on purpose….Mr. Dittmer knew about it and planned it. He has been caught putting hog waste into a ditch that goes to Hickory Creek, that goes to the Wapsipinicon River, that goes to the Mississippi River. So when question #20 on the MM was answered by Dittmer, regarding whether or not he had any environmental violations in the past five years, he answered no, that he hadn't. But, he only hadn't been caught…until now. How's that for integrity?

There will be an explosion of hog confinements all over Scott County and if there are under approximately 4,160 pigs at any one location, no state Master Matrix form needs to be filled out. No public hearing will be held. No neighbors will be required to be informed. The 'good neighbor' term, which never meant much anyway, will become defunct. Up the confinements will go. Down your property values will fall.

So beware the CAFO's. They will be coming close to you and your children. Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from hog waste are toxins that cause eye and lung irritation, headaches, disorientation, and neurological damage according to Dr. Kaye Kilburn in the book Chemical Brain Injury. As adults, the main things we should always be looking for are the safety, health, and education of all children. When greed for money and sidestepping the rules take precedent, it is time for things to change.
You can help facilitate that change.

State legislators can start to fix the Master Matrix, or better yet, toss it out and start over. Contact your locally elected officials, your state representatives and senators, the governor's office and the DNR's Environmental Protection Commission to put stronger laws in place. Even if the DNR approves Dittmer's permit, which they had until September 20th to consider, talk with members of the Environmental Protection Commission about your concerns.

In the meantime, David Kirby author of Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment spoke at the Putnam Museum in Davenport on September 11th, and drew a crowd of nearly 170 people. His book deals with how rural citizens and communities in Illinois, North Carolina and Washington state have suffered from animal confinements and large open feedlots.

If Dittmer's expansion happens, this throws open the door for hundreds of additional hog confinements up and down the Mississippi River both in Iowa and Illinois. The proposed Triumph Foods will be closer to becoming a reality, and the degradation of the Quad Cities area will begin.

The time to stop this is now. As a former Soil and Water Commissioner from Scott County, I feel this is of extreme importance to all who live in this area, rural and urban to voice your opinion on the threat of these confinements and the proposed slaughterhouse. Do it for the children.

Molly Regan
Environmental Facilitator
Progressive Action for the Common Good
Bettendorf, IA