Split Floyd County board recommends CAFO approval

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors on Monday recommended that the state approve an application to expand a confined animal feeding operation in the southern part of the county, but one of the supervisors voted against the recommendation.

McCandless Family Pork LLC had applied to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for a construction permit for a 110-foot-by-210-foot confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) building, to be built next to a similar-sized facility already existing on their site in Pleasant Grove Township, about 5½ miles northeast of Greene.

The building would house 2,508 finishing hogs, bringing the total number of hogs on site for the two buildings to 4,998.

The application scored 475 points on the state’s Master Matrix, which is used to help determine if a CAFO project meets state criteria. A score of at least 440 out of a possible 880 points is required, with a certain number of points in each of three categories that determine impact on air quality, water quality and the community.

Supervisor Mark Kuhn voted against the county recommendation to the state DNR. The other two supervisors, Linda Tjaden and Doug Kamm, provided the majority “yes” votes for the recommendation to pass.

Kuhn said he recognized that the application passed the Master Matrix, but said he was concerned about the effect of the operation on water quality.

“We have 756 impaired waterways in Iowa, and one of them is the lower portion of Flood Creek,” Kuhn said, “and the lower portion of Flood Creek is where the McCandless operation is going to apply 1.2 million gallons of manure.”

That would be the approximate total amount of liquid manure per year coming from both buildings on the site.

Becky Sexton, a consultant with Twin Lakes Environmental Services LLC, who worked with the McCandlesses to fill out the Master Matrix, said the liquid manure would be injected into the soil as a crop nutrient, and the family had “more acres than we need to dispose of the manure we have.”

Kuhn said, “When you look on the Iowa DNR website and see that list of impaired waterways, and you specifically click on the lower portion of Flood Creek, you’ll see the reason it is impaired is bacteria and E. coli.

“My vote not approving this is based on the fact that I don’t think we need another 1.2 total million gallons of manure into the watershed of Flood Creek,” Kuhn said. “I think the priority should be cleaning up Iowa water, not adding to the problem.”

Kuhn was one of the Iowa state legislators who helped devise the Master Matrix in 2002, but he has since advocated for changes to the matrix, saying the formula has become little more than a “rubber stamp” for new CAFOs, because certain questions are almost always used by applicants and other questions are almost never used.

Supervisor Kamm said at the special meeting Monday, “When it comes to these Master Matrix things, I guess I’m reminded all the time that we represent all of the citizens of Floyd County, not just a few.”

Speaking about the McCandlesses, Kamm said, “These people are doing what they’re asked to do by the state of Iowa. We may disagree with some of the things, but we’re not the ones that can change it. They’re doing everything they’re asked to do by the state of Iowa.”

Supervisor Tjaden said she recognizes the concern about water quality, but as a livestock farmer herself she also recognizes the value that animal manure has as an important crop nutrient.

The board held a public hearing on the application, during which few comments were received, then voted 2-1 to recommend to the DNR that the permit application be approved.

In Iowa, county boards of supervisors that have adopted the Master Matrix process make a recommendation to the state DNR based on the matrix and other criteria, but in practice the DNR almost always approves an application that passes the matrix, regardless of the county’s recommendation.

In other business Monday, the supervisors:

• Approved a letter of support for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa in an application for a Child Welfare Decategorization grant, known as a Decat grant.

• Held a public hearing on and then approved an amendment to the county budget.