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Meeting gathers public comment on renewal of Supreme Beef water use permit

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By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

 

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hosted a virtual public meeting on April 25 to gather public comment on the application to renew a water use and allocation permit for Supreme Beef, LLC, a cattle feedlot near Monona.

 

According to Noah Poppelreiter, a staff attorney for the DNR who led the meeting, the original permit was issued in 2017 and included the right to withdraw up to 21.9 million gallons of water per year from the Jordan Aquifer. The water would be withdrawn using two wells that were constructed in 2017 and 2021.

 

Renewal of the permit would grant Supreme Beef the rights to withdraw water for another five years. 

 

“On review of the renewal application, the DNR recommended the application for renewal be granted, which triggered a 20-day comment period,” Poppelreiter explained. “The DNR will review the comments and make what is known as an initial decision. It’s actually either a final draft of the permit or a denial of the application. It will contain the terms of the permit or the reasons for the denial. It’s going to be where the DNR’s responses are to all comments received.”

 

Poppelreiter anticipated the DNR will issue its initial decision by May 15.

 

Public comments leveled at the meeting heavily focused on the amount of water Supreme Beef will need for the proposed 11,600 cattle at the site.

 

Clayton County resident Larry Stone noted that’s a 16 percent increase from the 10,000 cattle indicated in the original 2017 permit.

 

“Also, the original permit calculated water use as 6 gallons per head per day. Later calculations from Supreme Beef, LLC slightly increased those estimates to 6.5 or 7.2 gallons per day. However, animal scientists in the industry generally agree that cattle need at least 10 gallons per head per day, and often 20 gallons during hot weather,” Stone said. “With more cattle and the reality of them drinking more, it’s likely that the water use could be double the 22 million gallons per year listed in the permit. And if Supreme Beef, LLC should choose to flush the cattle containment buildings with well water, the amount of water use would increase even more dramatically.”

 

Tammy Thompson, whose property neighbors Supreme Beef and has a well just over 2,000 feet from the operation, also cited the “misleading and inaccurate” information filed in the initial permit. She argued the intent of the operation has changed since 2017.

 

“This permit application was completed in 2017, and at the time the facility was going to have a digester and produce renewable energy. This facility now, in 2022, is no longer what it was indicated to be in 2017. It is not serving the same purpose that was proposed. It is a large confinement cattle operation,” Thompson said. “This permit should not be renewed as is because, by doing so, it would result in unreasonable use for only the applicant’s personal gain while negatively impacting residents in the nearby communities, as well as nearby well and domestic cattle farm users.”

 

Marquette resident Alicia Mullarkey also feared approval of the water use permit could result in threats to public health and welfare.

 

“The quality of the groundwater and surface water in this area impacts my family in many ways. We drink the water from the city well and I’m concerned Supreme Beef has drastically underestimated the amount of water that will be needed for 11,600 cows. The sheer amount of groundwater needed for this operation has the potential to impact the city of Monona, where my kids attend school, and in Marquette where I live. I would like to know more about the potential impacts on our aquifer,” she said. “I would also like to know more about the impacts if the groundwater is polluted by manure produced by the cattle. Pollution is a major concern of mine especially with karst topography and how fast water trickles through the ‘leaky limestone.’”

 

Mullarkey referenced the extent cities like Marquette go to in order to clean wastewater prior to release and wondered why Supreme Beef and other cattle feeding operations were not held to more robust standards.

 

“We have fewer than 400 people who live in town, and it seems strange to me that an operation with 11,600 cattle utilizing our water resources and creating such a large amount of waste on a daily basis is not treated similarly. We pay taxes and fees in town to treat our water extensively and to ensure all residents have access to clean drinking water and that we do not negatively impact others with our wastewater. It leads me to wonder why an industrial agriculture operation isn’t held to the same standards,” she stated. “If the cattle operation is to be part of our future, it needs to be regulated properly. Please keep in mind those of us who live nearby and will pay the highest price for the overuse of water and pollution caused by manure.”

 

As a source of drinking water for a large part of the state, the Jordan Aquifer should receive more consideration, stressed Allamakee County resident Ric Zarwell. Surface water can enter the groundwater unfiltered through the crevices in the region’s karst topography.

 

“Nobody knows how to get manure out of an aquifer like that, so critical to the entire state of Iowa,” he said.

 

Steve Veysey also argued for additional consideration for Bloody Run Creek. The Supreme Beef operation is located in the headwaters of the “Outstanding Iowa Water,” but he said the stream was given no special protection in the initial permit.

 

“In evaluating whether a permit is beneficial, you should determine whether the activity may cause pollution,” he said.

 

Mullarkey, too, mentioned the potential pollution to streams in the watershed. Her family, along with environmental education groups, utilize Bloody Run often.

 

Resources like it are also an important part of Iowa’s—and specifically northeast Iowa’s—tourism industry, added Tracey Kuehl. Although living in the Quad Cities, Kuehl said she has 25-plus years of experience in Iowa tourism. 

 

“I can assure you northeast Iowa and its plethora of outdoor recreational opportunities and unique environment is one of the state’s strongest selling points. However, these amenities and the significant economic impact they provide to northeast Iowa and the state as a whole are at risk if this water use permit is approved,” she stated. “The Iowa DNR cannot, on one hand, be a champion of our natural resources and encourage their use by Iowans and visitors alike, while on the other support the faulty nutrient management plan and overreaching water permit of an enormous cattle feeding operation in this critical watershed.”

 

At the heart of the matter, said Supreme Beef opponents, is that renewal of the water permit would violate Iowa Code, which states, “A permit to divert, store or withdraw water shall not be issued or continued if it will unreasonably impair the long-term availability of water from a surface or groundwater source in terms of quantity or quality, or otherwise adversely affect the public health or welfare.”

 

“It’s important the DNR not just look at the application on the surface of it. You must really review what the implications are and how this water withdrawal will affect the people in the area and environment in general,” said Wally Taylor, a representative of the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club.

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