Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Coalition notifies swine producer of intent to file Clean Water Act suit

    A coalition of community, environmental and animal welfare organizations sent a notice of intent to sue Illinois-based The Maschhoffs over alleged repeated discharges of hog manure to waterways from one of its Iowa farms. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and the Humane Society of the United States intend to file suit alleging violations of the federal Clean Water Act unless the facility obtains a Clean Water Act permit and the company can guarantee that its almost 7,500-head sow facility will not discharge any further pollution into Iowa's waterways.
    Iowa CCI is represented by The Environmental Integrity Project, and the Humane Society of the United States is represented by David Sykes of David E. Sykes, P.C. in Fairfield, Iowa, and lawyers with the HSUS' animal protection litigation section. The groups will file suit in January.
    The sow facility, located in Van Buren County, Iowa near the Des Moines River, is one of the largest factory farms in Iowa, and annually produces more than 11 million gallons of manure that it spreads on less than 600 acres of surrounding land.
    The coalition alleges violations at the farm took place earlier in 2013, as well as in 2011 and in 2007.

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