Iowa Hog Lot Controversy Far From Over
by Shawn Harmsen, KIMT-TV, Mason City

Supporters of a Worth County livestock ordinance say their fight for a cleaner environment isn't over.  Iowa's Supreme Court struck down the ordinance [last week].  That decision could fertilize a new debate less than four weeks before Election Day.  

For supporters and authors of a Worth County ordinance regulating livestock facilities, a sense of disbelief.

What was struck down was essentially a local health ordinance which attempted, among other things, to test and regulate air quality around factory-style farm operations.

Struck down because the court didn't want to see a different hog lot ordinance in each of Iowa's 99 counties.

But don't look for a court decision to end this often passionate argument.

"I will never stop saying the [factory farms] are a detriment to the health of our people,” says Dr. Stephanie Seemuth, who helped write the ordinance.  “I will never stop saying this."

A message Stephanie hopes will convince voters to put some new lawmakers in Des Moines, now that the courts have said "no" to local control.

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