Iowa is the only state in America with rising cancer rates; watchdog blasts DNR, call for ‘Clean Water for Iowa Act’
by Edward Lynn, MidAmerica Publishing
As first reported by Nina Elkadi in Sentient, a new report from Food & Water Watch reveals troubling trends in Iowa’s environmental and public health landscape. According to the environmental watchdog group, nearly 2 million fish were killed by manure spills across the state between 2013 and 2023. The 179 spills documented during this period were concentrated heavily in northwest Iowa. Earlier in 2024, Food & Water Watch reported that Iowa’s factory farms produce more waste than any other state, with an estimated 109 billion pounds of manure generated annually, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
The report, released on Dec. 9, included a map showing more than 700 segments of Iowa’s waterways designated as “impaired”—meaning they failed to meet standards necessary to support recreation, aquatic life, or public water supplies. The map also identifies spill locations, ownership of the operations involved, and whether they are repeat offenders.
Manure spills have compounded Iowa’s water quality crisis. In Des Moines, the local water utility operates one of the world’s largest nitrate removal facilities to address elevated nitrate levels in drinking water. Nitrate, a chemical byproduct of manure that is not absorbed by soil or crops, poses serious health risks, including colon cancer among adults, and blue baby syndrome in infants. The cost of running the nitrate removal system has surged, ranging from $10,000 to $16,000 per day, all of which is passed on to utility customers.
“When you think about the nature of what they’re spilling and the quantities of what they’re spilling, it’s the difference between life and death, and people are being strapped down with medical debt and suffering in a prolonged way,” Michaelyn Mankel, Food & Water Watch’s Iowa Organizer, told Sentient.
From 2013 to 2023, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fined 171 of the 179 offenders a total of $635,808. For comparison, Des Moines Water Works spent $1.4 million on nitrate removal in 2015 alone. The report also highlights gaps in state reporting, noting that the total volume of manure spilled is difficult to quantify because many reports lack volume data. Where data is available, spill volumes range from 500 gallons to 1 million gallons.
“The fines that the DNR has leveled against these companies do not represent restitution for the damage that they’re causing to Iowa,” said Mankel. “They also don’t represent a real demand that these corporations change the way that they’re doing business.”
In 2024 alone, the Iowa DNR documented 13 fish kill events, one of which was directly tied to dairy manure runoff in northwest Iowa. This “anthropogenic” spill killed between 100,001 and 500,000 fish.
Many concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) operate without proper discharge permits, making their spills more difficult to track. Efforts to tighten regulations have faced significant setbacks. In October, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition from 13 groups, including Food & Water Watch, that sought stricter enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Food & Water Watch is now advocating for a “Clean Water for Iowa Act,” which would require medium and large-scale CAFOs to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.
These environmental challenges coincide with a rising health crisis in Iowa. The state is the only one in the U.S. with increasing cancer rates, a trend some experts and critics link to large-scale industrialized agriculture. Other factors, such as obesity and alcoholism, may also contribute.
“We’re paying for it,” Mankel told Sentient. “I really want Iowans to understand that these problems are a policy choice, and that we are being burdened with paying the true cost of massive profits that these corporations are reaping from our state, and that’s a very intentional choice on behalf of lawmakers.”
Two known spills are recorded as having taken place in Wright County during the timeframe studied. And four streams were listed as impaired. Presumably, other bodies of water connected to these streams may also be impaired. Although the report didn’t include this data, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources does keep track of water impairment, and readers are encouraged to check the most up to date data regularly, especially when considering interacting with water bodies.
Closest to Clarion was the spill by DMC Property Rentals LLC, which the report estimates keeps about 6,600 head of swine, and spilled into the Boone River in late August of 2015. The company was fined $500. As of 2022, the river was listed as impaired, causing a fish kill “due to unknown toxicity”. A spill almost two years earlier, in late January of 2014, by Iowa Select 3, was reported, pouring into Drainage ditch #213. Iowa Select was estimated to keep about 4,150 head of swine, and was not penalized.
In addition to the Boone River, the main body of the Iowa River, as well as the river’s East Branch, and West Otter Creek were listed as impaired. The Iowa River tested positive for E. Coli bacteria, which can cause severe illness or death. The East Branch of the Iowa River showed a low Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) score for aquatic macroinvertebrates, which can indicate an unhealthy body of water. West Otter Creek also showed a fish kill in 2022, also “due to unknown toxicity”.
In Wright County, the report found there are 27 factory farms, with an estimated 69,2750+ animals, or about 119 animals per square mile, which produced an estimated 1.9 billion pounds of manure, in 2022.
Readers can examine the interactive map online.
PHOTO CAPTION: The Iowa Animal Operation Discharge Map, shows only two spills in Wright County, and no repeat offenders. However, due to low reporting, there may be many more spills than are known about. (Screenshot, Arcgis.com.)
