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Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism - Explanatory and Investigative Journalism in Iowa

Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism (https://iowawatch.org/category/environment/page/2/)

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Environment

  • Related Topics:
  • environment
  • water quality
  • Iowa Department of Natural Resources
  • donna schill
  • Iowa Environment
landfill management

Local Town Dumps A Thing Of The Past Due To High Cost Of Government Regulations

By Lauren Wade | December 5, 2018

Many small Iowa communities no longer can afford to maintain their local dumps when faced with increasing regulation and permitting fees by the EPA and Iowa Department of Natural Resources. That has forced new ways of thinking about waste management.

Dead Zone

South Dakota Waterways Serve As Dumping Grounds For Human, Industrial, Ag Wastes

By Bart Pfankuch/South Dakota News Watch | August 24, 2018

While Iowa takes most of the blame, nutrient loading of Great Plains waterways that flow into the Missouri River, then to the Mississippi River and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico are causing a literal dead zone in the Gulf that is steadily increasing in size.

Environment and Health

Large Number Of Iowa Public Schools In Range Of Potential Pesticide Spray Drift

By Rachel Schmid, Sophia Schillinger and Sabine Martin/IowaWatch-Cedar Falls Tiger Hi-Line report | June 1, 2018

Nine of every 10 public school districts in Iowa have buildings within 2,000 feet of a farm field, making students and teachers susceptible to being exposed to pesticides that drift from the fields when pesticides are sprayed. Yet many school officials interviewed for an IowaWatch/Tiger Hi-Line investigation showed little to no awareness on if or how pesticide drift could affect the staff and students in school buildings.

waste management

Iowans Throwing Away Valuable Food, Usable Materials and Recyclables At Alarming Rate

By Lauren Wade | May 24, 2018

Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources sampled trash from 10 landfills and five transfer stations across Iowa for a study published in December 2017, looking to answer the question, “What are Iowans landfilling?” Tom Anderson, of the Iowa DNR’s Land Quality Bureau and the study’s project manager, has an answer to that question.

climate change

Report: Public Filings Lack Enough Information On Climate Change Risks

By Johnathan Hettinger/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | March 30, 2018

Investors may not know the risks climate-related events could have on companies based on public filings, a new report from the Government Accountability Office found. The Securities and Exchange Commission reviews filings to make sure that companies follow federal securities laws in disclosing information to investors. In 2010, the SEC issued guidance on how climate-related information should be disclosed in public filings. But the oversight office cannot fully review the climate-related risks companies disclose in public filings because of inadequate information, according to the independent report publicly released March 22. “When companies report climate-related disclosures in varying formats and specificity, SEC reviewers and investors may find it difficult to compare and analyze related disclosures across companies’ filings,” the GAO reported.

Renewable Energy In Gradual Rise During Trump Administration Call For Coal Revival

By Paul Feldman/Fairwarning | March 8, 2018

Despite the Trump Administration’s ardent support of coal over renewable energy, the percentage of U.S. electricity from renewable sources continued its gradual rise in 2017.

agriculture

EPA Eased Herbicide Regulations Following Monsanto Research, Records Show

By Johnathan Hettinger/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | March 4, 2018

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lessened protections for crops and wildlife habitats after Monsanto supplied research that presented lower estimates of how far the weed killer dicamba can drift, according to a review of federal documents. In its final report approving the usage of dicamba on soybeans, the agency expressed confidence that dicamba, new versions of which are made by Monsanto and German chemical company BASF, would not leave the field. The registration covered both herbicides, an EPA spokesperson said. “The EPA expects that exposure will remain confined to the dicamba (DGA) treated field,” the agency wrote in the final registration approving the use of dicamba in November 2016. However, drift from dicamba damaged more than 3.6 million acres of soybeans in 2017, according to data from Kevin Bradley, a professor at the University of Missouri.

Pesticide drift

Pesticide Buffer Zones Crop Up In Other States But None In Midwest

By Anna Casey/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | January 18, 2018

Midwest U.S. states do not require any buffer zone between schools and crop fields and seldom require any notification that pesticides are about to be sprayed, a review of laws by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting has found. University of Iowa researchers are analyzing chemical spray drift for advice on such a buffer.

farming environment

Report Highlights Nitrate Contamination In Drinking Water Across The U.S.

By Paul Feldman/Fairwarning | October 17, 2017

Some evidence suggests that long-term ingestion of drinking water with nitrates at just half that federal limit can prove dangerous to children and adults alike, potentially raising the risk of bladder, thyroid, kidney, ovarian and colon cancers. Iowa is part of the story.

dicamba

Complaints Surge About Weed Killer Dicamba’s Damage To Oak Trees

By Johnathan Hettinger/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | October 11, 2017

As soybean and cotton farmers across the Midwest and South continue to see their crops ravaged from the weed killer dicamba, new complaints have pointed to the herbicide as a factor in widespread damage to oak trees.

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Investigative Reporting in Iowa

Census takers in Iowa sound the alarm about technology, training deficiencies

Iowa's census workers say they fear their count won't be accurate because of poor training, technology problems and other concerns during a troublesome 2020.

Source: The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)

Worst dicamba damage in decades

Damage the herbicide dicamba has done to soybeans and trees is the worst seen since the controversial weed killer hit the market in the 1960s.

Source: The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)

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