Felix Finisher, a confined animal feeding operation in Section 19 of Bristol Township, has been granted a construction permit by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, despite the Greene County supervisors’ 4-1 vote to disapprove it.
County zoning official Chuck Wenthold received notification of the permit last week.
The supervisors’ ‘no’ vote was based on out-of-state ownership of the CAFO and environmental concerns raised at the public hearing on the proposed CAFO Aug. 8. The master matrix scored 460 points, with 440 needed for the IDNR to approve the permit.
At the hearing Jon Tiffany, who drives past the site several times a week, told the supervisors the field on which the manure will be spread is a prairie pothole. Spring snow melt and a rain of more than an inch or so leaves ponds on the site. He estimated between 20 and 60 acres of water standing on the site at times.
He said that even though there’s a Hickenbottom inlet in the field, water stands for days, leeching nutrients out of the field and eventually into the Raccoon River via the drainage tile.
GreeneCountyNewsOnline shared those concerns with Paul Petitti, senior environmental engineer for the IDNR.
Petitti responded that Felix Finishers’ manure management plan includes injecting or incorporating all manure on the same day it is applied “so the separation distance to the field intake is zero feet. No one can ensure that all manure application will be performed correctly, however the applicator must be licensed.”
“The DNR will look into any and all concerns from the county or citizens on an application and will act within our authority to correct,” Petitti wrote in his email response.
Petitti also forwarded GCNO’s inquiries to IDNR environmental specialist Dan Weber.
According to Weber, any manure contamination entering the Hickenbottom “would most likely result in a water quality violation and possibly a fine. It is the responsibility of the manure applicator to ensure that this does not happen.”
He wrote that applicators must be aware of current field conditions and the weather forecast when they apply manure. If it were documented that manure was not applied as specified in the manure management plan or the master matrix, it would be a violation, although there probably would not be a fine for a first time offense, he wrote.
A facility can take measures to stop or limit a discharge, “but once water quality has been impacted there is very little that can be done to physically remedy it,” Weber wrote.
A facility is required to self-report a spill, discharge or contamination within six hours from the time it is discovered, “but we still rely heavily on the public notifying us… The sooner we are able to respond the more likely we will be able to document a violation and find a responsible party. At no point in time or under any circumstances is a facility allowed to cause any water quality violations,” Weber wrote.
The IDNR 24-hour emergency hotline is 515-725-8694. The IDNR uses a tagline “Leading Iowans in caring for our natural resources.”
