The proposed hog confinements would have a total of 7,440 hogs in rural Dallas County, which is the fastest growing county in the state. These confinements will proposed as much waste as a town of 30,000 people and it will go untreated.
Earlier this month, Dallas County Supervisors voted against allowing these proposed hog confinements, but in reality there isn’t much the local people can do about the hog confinements that will be owned by the out of state company, Cargill.
Dallas is among 70 counties that have adopted a system of requirements used by state regulators to determine whether construction of an animal confinement is allowed, which means the Board of Supervisors and dozens of residents who live near the proposed buildings provide input but have little say over what happens in their backyards.
The so-called “master matrix,” created in 2003, awards points based on how a confinement will affect the air, water and community. Both proposed Dallas County confinements garnered enough points for approval, which county officials must submit to the state by Monday.
Residents say the grading system creates an illusion of local control. “In reality, the county has very little control over this,” said Jim Thompson, who lives near one of the proposed sites west of Perry.
Applications to build animal confinements are submitted to the county, where officials score the matrix. If an applicant gets the needed points, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources approves the application. If the county issues a failing grade, the state rescores the matrix and can overrule the decision.
In the past some state legislators from more urban districts stayed away from this issue, saying that it was a rural issue. However, these proposed hog confinements demonstrate that hog confinements are moving into more urban areas and can be put up anywhere without little control from local citizens.
Hopefully, this will force urban lawmakers in the Iowa legislature to start pushing for the need for local control.
Last weekend I attended the Iowa CCI convention where John Nichols was the keynote speaker. Nichols gave a great speech that made all of the Iowans in attendance proud.
His theme was that citizenship requires action, that it is more than just voting a couple times each year. It is Iowan’s responsibility to pursue progressive goals that move the nation forward because Iowans has always been on the frontline of progressive change in the country.
Nichols outlined how Iowa has been leading the nation on the big issues ever since it became a state in 1846 and declared that it was not going to be a slave state. Wisconsin and Minnesota followed suit and this was the beginning of the end of slavery.
He then told the story of Smith Wildman Brookhart (Yes, Wildman was really his middle name.), who ran ran for the United States Senate in 1922 as a Republican with a populist message, saying…
Wall St. is a greater threat to America than any foreign enemy.
Brookhart won a close election and was seated in the Senate until he pissed off party leaders and the election was overturned. He is the only person ever to have the election results overturned after already being seated as a US Senator. Broookhart didn’t give up though. He ran in 1926 against longtime Senator Albert B. Cummins, who was the chair of the Judiciary committee. Brookhart went on to beat Cummins in the Republican primary and went on to win in the general election.
Nichols then talked about Henry Wallace and I shot this video of him talking about Henry Wallace. I used my cell phone to take the video, so the quality isn’t the best, but here it is anyway.
Nichols quoted George McGovern, who had this to say about Henry Wallace…
The only thing Henry Wallace did wrong was believe that America could be as good as Americans were.
Nichols then told how Harold Hughes spoke to end the war in Vietnam and against the strong-armed tatics being used by the Chicago police.
That led up to the 2008 Iowa caucuses. Nichols said that Iowans did what only Iowans can do. We asked the tough questions at the small town cafes and in the end, showed the rest of the nation Barack Obama could win.
Nichols stressed that our duties don’t stop there. We must continue to push ahead on the issues of clean elections, local control of hog confinements, clean water, and worker’s rights. If Iowans do that then the rest of the country will follow.
Todd Dormon responded to my post and shows what Culver has done on the issue…
Here is the chronology of Culver’s push for local control, as I see it.
1. Promise repeatedly during the 2006 campaign to push for local control over where large hog confinements can be built.
2. Insist weeks before even taking office that you can’t get the Legislature to go along with local control, so you’re not going to press the issue.
3. Make no mention of local control in your second legislative agenda.
4. Make a great speech talking about your continued push for local control.
I don’t care whether you favor or oppose local control, but I defy you to find any real evidence that Culver has “pushed” for it.
He’s insisted, repeatedly, that the votes aren’t there in the Legislature. That may be true.
But the votes weren’t there for a $1 cigarette tax increase when he proposed it in his first budget address to lawmakers last year. He lobbied hard and got it anyway.
I am not sure if there are any bills on this issue still being discussed this session. If not, hopefully, this can become an issue in the upcoming elections and one that Culver pushes next legislative session.
Yesterday, members of Iowa CCI held a lobby day at the State House where they met with legislators, DNR official Wayne Gieselman, and Governor Culver. Two of the issues discusses with Culver was VOICE and local control.
Governor Culver, in his meeting with CCI members, said he would continue pushing for local control of factory farms, an issue he pledged his support of during his campaign and for which his commitment was questioned. “I commend your commitment to this important issue,” Culver stated.
Culver also said he was “more open than ever before” to supporting Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections, a system where candidates can choose to run using public funding instead of fund raising and accepting monies from powerful special interests. After seeing the impact of special interests in the legislature firsthand, Culver stated, “We have to do something.”
Last year when the Legislature went into session — and when they debated the heated bills — it was our good friend of the blogosphere Bacon who went up there and did the real reporting work and really helped push the blogs in Iowa to begin talking about local politics from the statehouse level, not […]
The Des Moines Register has a story about the environmental issues that will be debated this year.The actions they might take could affect the way Iowans get electricity for their homes, how much ethanol they use, and the quality of the water in lakes …
