Iowa’s Raccoon River provides drinking water for a half million of the state’s residents. But in a scene that’s increasingly common across rural America, industrial agricultural operations have moved in and are using the watershed as a dumping ground. Sewage from nearby hog farms, and runoff from synthetic fertilizers applied to corn and soybean crops grown to feed the hogs and nearby ethanol plants, is flooding the river with pollution, causing alarmingly high nitrate levels and toxic algae blooms.
Yet, the state, beholden to agribusiness, has stood by and done nothing except call for “voluntary” action.
Then, last night, a court stepped in and said “enough.”
In a courageous and forward-looking ruling yesterday, Judge Robert Hanson of Polk County District Court ruled that Public Justice’s case on behalf of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch can go forward, rejecting the state’s move to dismiss the case and putting real, meaningful muscle behind Iowa’s Public Trust Doctrine, an important state law that requires the state to preserve natural resources as part of a public trust. Judge Hanson recognized that harm to the public’s use of the river for drinking water and recreation could be the basis for asking a court to order a river clean-up, and that the court had the constitutional power to direct the Iowa legislature to do so..
“The Raccoon River,” Judge Hanson wrote, “is arguably in such a poor state due to the State’s inaction in enforcing [its own] pollution requirements without restriction.” As a result, he said, Iowans “are likely to be unable to use the Raccoon River in any reasonable, functional manner, without heavy water treatment.” Hanson also noted that the court can order the state to adopt a mandatory plan for fixing the issue and place a moratorium on factory farms operating within the Racoon River watershed.
Hanson’s decision is a clear, powerful and stern warning to Iowa lawmakers: If they fail to safeguard the constitutionally-protected right to clean water over corporate profit, the courts are prepared to act. It is also a wake-up call from Iowans aimed directly at politicians seeking votes in rural America.
Fortunately, the alarm has not gone entirely unnoticed. As the critical opening votes of the 2020 Presidential election come into focus in Iowa, candidates have been energetically addressing issuesimportant to rural communities, leading some to ask: Is rural America having an important moment in Presidential politics?
We believe – and hope – it is.
As rural Americans mobilize and rally candidates to their side, though, the courts – as Judge Hanson made clear last night – have an important role to play, too. Their actions (or, as was the case recently in Indiana, their shocking inaction) have widespread repercussions in areas of the country that are, quite literally, under attack. Huge, profit-driven agribusiness corporations are moving into small towns and communities and destroying rural Americans’ treasured way of life (and their air and water, too). From North Carolina to Washington State– and everywhere in between – the arrival of a factory farm increasingly means the death of livable communities that attracted rural residents there in the first place.
Public Justice’s Food Project, which as the lead attorneys represents the Iowa citizen groups in this case, is proud to bring legal muscle to support and supplement the impressive community mobilization efforts that are happening in rural communities across the country. For several years, Iowa CCI and Food & Water Watch have been challenging agribusiness and the proliferation of factory farms, including seeking a moratorium in the legislature on these new and expanding industrial-style facilities. But the legislature has listened only to agribusiness. Until now.
We also have the opportunity to empower farmers because “industrial agribusiness is the problem,” as Adam Mason, State Policy Director with Iowa CCI, explained. “We know that farmers want to see their communities flourish and restore Iowa’s rivers and lakes. While we call for mandatory pollution controls, we also support rural policy reform that ensures farmers can afford to protect our water and our climate, because we all do better when we all do better.”
As last night’s victory, and the efforts that led up to it, shows, this impressive partnership is paving the way for legal, and political, recognition of rural America’s right to exist free from the damage inflicted by corporate-controlled agribusiness. And just as Iowa helped pave the way for sweeping changes in LGBTQ equality – an issue where Judge Hanson also played an early and important role – it is now on the cusp of a possible sea change in ensuring the public’s right to clean water receives the constitutional protection it deserves.
To stay up-to-date on the case as it moves forward, follow the Public Justice Food Project on Twitter, or visit us online.