Four Iowa residents have petitioned the state’s Department of Natural Resources to better regulate airborne waste from hog farms. Currently, the state requires that farmers retain manure until it is applied as fertilizer. But the residents argue that farmers aren’t retaining all the manure — that some is being spread to nearby homes and neighborhoods by blowers and air vents.
In order for the DNR to meet the residents’ request, it would have to issue a declaratory order that would change how farms’ air emissions have been regulated. Operators of concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, would be required to buy and install better filters for their barns. If the department doesn’t respond in 60 days, the residents plan to take the issue to court.
People who live near CAFOs have long asserted that odor and airborne bacteria can have detrimental health effects on residents. Vented emissions can include ammonia, methane, and antibiotic-resistant organisms. One study in Iowa found that neighbors of concentrated farming operations were four times as likely as the general public to carry dangerous MRSA bacteria.
The number of hogs in Iowa has been steadily climbing, reaching a record high of 22.4 million in 2016.