Letter to the Editor: Karst terrain leads to legitimate concerns regarding proposed hog confinements

To the Editor:

As of a few weeks ago, karst was not a term I was all that familiar with, but after learning that two separate 2,499 head hog confinements were going to be built neighboring my family’s farm in Howard County, I learned that karst topography is causing quite a concern.

Northeast Iowa is known for its karst terrain which is made up of rocks like limestone and dolomite. Features found within karst regions include caves, springs and sinkholes. Northeastern Iowa is known to have quality groundwater that travels through natural aquifers formed as a part of this terrain.

As stated on the Iowa DNR website (http://www.iowadnr.gov), “Over seventy-five percent of Iowans rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water.” As an Iowan, wouldn’t you then hope that the water you are drinking or are offering your children at the kitchen table would be clean and safe?  When two hog confinements are proposed within the same neighborhood in Northeast Iowa, you might think twice about filling up those future glasses of water.

As stated in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Geological Survey Bureau by G.R. Hallberg and B.E. Hoyer, the carbonate aquifers of northeast Iowa “are more susceptible to contamination from sources at the land surface than other types of aquifers.”

They go on to say that “open sinkholes provide a direct conduit for surface waters, and join the groundwater system.” There have been numerous documented cases of groundwater contamination in karst areas.

Furthermore, researchers at the University of Illinois determined that “contamination in karst terrains can be further aggravated by heavy rainfall or snowmelt events in agricultural areas” and that contaminants including “pesticides, fertilizers, and fecal materials from human and animal wastes may be flushed into the underlying karst aquifers.” (Science of the Total Environment; Zhang, Kelly, Panno, Lui, 2014).

So what do you do when you learn that two hog confinements, one by Reicks View Farms/Chestnut Creek LLC and the other by Ron and Brandon Reis, are being built in an area known to be full of documented sinkholes?  And what if you are concerned about potential manure spills and appropriate manure transportation and application in your neighborhood?

You rally the neighbors and form the Northeast Iowans for Clean Air and Water and fight for your right to keep your drinking water clean. Please help join our cause and fight to keep Iowa’s water clean by expressing your concerns to Reicks View Farms and the Reis family. To learn more, visit our page at www.facebook.com/NEICAW. Help us protect such a valuable natural resource.

Angie Chambers
Cedar Falls
native of Lime Springs