Driftless Water Defenders sends notice letter ahead of possible suit to clean up Yellow River, Hecker Creek
Driftless Water Defenders (DWD), an Iowa non-profit membership corporation focused on water issues in Iowa, has issued to Agri Star Meat & Poultry, LLC, and Agri Star General, Inc., (Agri Star) a Notice of Violations and Intent to Sue Under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Agri Star owns and operates the offending agricultural processing facility located in Postville, Iowa. DWD is represented by Public Justice, FarmSTAND, and Larew Law Office.
The notice alleges that violations of the CWA have occurred and continue to occur at the Agri Star processing facility. Under the Clean Water Act, a permitted facility must self-monitor and self-report its pollution discharges. Agri Star’s reports indicate significant and repeated exceedances of pollution limits in waterways adjacent to the Postville facility for years. In addition, the facility has failed to take and report sampling results for a wide range of additional pollutants.
Upon expiration of the 60-day notice period, DWD intends to seek from the federal district court declaratory and injunctive relief, civil penalties, and all other relief authorized by law.
The notice describes both Agri Star’s obligations and duties under the CWA and also a long series of violations of the Permit which wrongfully pollute Hecker Creek and the Yellow River, both of which are classified as “navigable waters” of the United States.
Chris Jones, President of DWD, described the reason for the Notice and the membership corporation’s decision to pursue compliance with the law through a civil lawsuit: “The Yellow River has traditionally been one of Iowa’s recreational crown jewels—clean water where citizens can fish, hike, canoe and kayak. The Iowa Code describes our water as the ‘wealth’ of the people. If governmental agencies won’t enforce our clean water laws, citizens must step in to do that.”
“The people’s representatives passed the Clean Water Act to stop exactly the industrial pollution this notice letter alleges that Agri Star is allowing,” said Holly Bainbridge, a staff attorney for FarmSTAND, one of the attorneys representing Driftless Water Defenders in this action. “Iowans have a right to a clean Hecker Creek and Yellow River, and the law guarantees that they have a remedy in court when an industrial ag company deprives them of it.”