DNR director rejects request to review Supreme Beef facility
Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon has rejected a request from environmental groups to review the Supreme Beef, LLC facility, a proposed 11,600-head cattle feedlot near Monona.
On May 24, the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa conservationists Steve Veysey and Larry Stone, and 43 other community groups, environmental leaders and legislators submitted a letter to Lyon requesting the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) review the Supreme Beef concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) under a section of the law commonly known as the DNR Discretion Rule.
The authority granted to DNR under 567 IAC 65.5(3) and IAC 65.103(5) allows the DNR to conduct a “departmental evaluation,” which would provide special protection to environmentally exceptional areas when reviewing proposed CAFO construction projects and nutrient management plans (NMPs) and manure management plans (MMPs).
In April, the DNR approved an NMP for Supreme Beef, which sits at the headwaters of Bloody Run Creek, designated an Outstanding Iowa Water. The NMP lists farm fields where manure from the facility will be applied, which are in the watersheds of Bloody Run Creek and other northeast Iowa rivers and streams. The petitioners claim the DNR approved an incomplete and incorrect NMP, despite being made aware of errors during an official public comment period.
“We have repeatedly explained the problems with this site, the plans for manure and the pollution risks,” said Michael Schmidt, staff attorney for the Iowa Environmental Council. “We call on the DNR to protect water quality for all Iowans and to stop the massive expansion of this CAFO.”
“Because the regulations as written do not cover this unique situation, it’s important for the department to exercise its discretion to protect Bloody Run Creek and the other water resources in the area,” added Wally Taylor, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter and Legal Chair.
Lyon rejected the request, however, stating she was advised by the DNR’s Legal Services Bureau and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office that subrule 65.103(5) of the Iowa code lacks statutory authority.
“The Department would be exceeding its authority under Iowa Code chapters 459 and 459A by conducting an alternative evaluation of the NMP,” Lyon said in a letter to the groups.
This marked the second time in the past month a request by environmental groups to review the Supreme Beef facility has been denied. Earlier in May, the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, the Iowa Environmental Council and Veysey and Stone filed a petition for a hearing with the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) to appeal the Supreme Beef NMP approved by DNR staff.
With a denial by the EPC, and now by Lyon, the environmental groups say the next step could be a lawsuit challenging the accuracy of the NMP.
