Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Pending further public comment, a Sioux County beef feedlot has agreed to a $30,000 civil penalty for unauthorized discharge of wastewater into nearby Otter Creek.
Darin Green, doing business as Darin Greene Feedlot in Hull, agreed to the fine as part of an administrative consent agreement filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7. The $30,000 penalty is subject to a 30-day public comment period before it becomes final.
Federal inspectors observed and sampled illegal discharges of manure, litter and process wastewater flowing from the feedlot in March 2010 into a tributary of Otter Creek. According to the EPA, the feedlot did not have adequate waste control structures to prevent the discharge, and it did not have a require National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater permit. At the time of the incident, according to government records, the feedlot confined approximately 2,100 cattle — 950 in open pens and 1,150 in deep-bedded confinements.
An administrative compliance order was issued to Green that same month, and the company has since constructed adequate runoff controls and obtained required permits.
Discharges of wastewater from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) can cause significant drops in water quality. They can pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic life and habitats, and impair public use and enjoyment of waterways.
Hull is located in extreme northwestern Iowa.
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