Des Moines, IA — In the past decade, Iowa factory farms have paid less than $750,000 in punitive penalties for 179 reported illegal manure spills into state waterways, finds a new analysis of Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) data released today by the national environmental group Food & Water Watch. This news comes as more than half of Iowa’s assessed waters are impaired, and as public drinking water cleanup costs skyrocket to an estimated $66 million annually.

Accompanying the analysis is a new interactive factory farm spill map, detailing all reported manure releases that reached waterways from Iowa factory farms from 2013-2023. Factory farm waste is a clear threat to clean water and public health. Spills release raw animal feces and urine laden with pharmaceuticals, pathogens, nitrates and pesticides into waterways — all of which are known to cause human diseases, including birth defects and cancers.

Findings include:

• From 2013 to 2023, factory farms illegally contaminated Iowa waterways with animal manure at least 179 times, in quantities of up to 1 million gallons. Researchers consider this a severe undercount, owing in large part to the lack of pollution monitoring at more than 4,000 Iowa factory farms operating without Clean Water Act permits.
• Factory farm operators responsible for these spills paid a total of $728,108 in punitive penalties to DNR, EPA, and the Iowa Attorney General for their illegal actions. In contrast, experts have estimated that Iowa taxpayers pay up to $66 million annually in statewide drinking water cleanup costs from nitrate contamination stemming from manure spreading and nitrogen fertilizers. Experts also estimated that nitrate contamination of Iowa waterways costs the state tens of millions of dollars annually in lost recreational benefits.

• Highest spill concentrations occurred in six NW Iowa counties — Lyon, Osceola, Sioux, O’Brien, Plymouth, and Palo Alto — all of which rank near the top for factory farmed animal density nationwide.
• Factory farm polluters were charged an additional $313,500 in compensatory fines for more than 30 documented fish kills, which collectively killed 1.9 million fish. More than half were killed in a single 2014 spill that extended 28 miles long and killed over 865,000 fish. Again, this is likely a severe undercount.

Food & Water Watch Iowa Organizer Michaelyn Mankel said:

“While factory farms spur on Iowa’s worsening water pollution crisis, the state is letting corporate giants get off with barely a slap on the wrist. Corporate polluters must be held accountable for soiling our water — Iowa legislators must pass the Clean Water for Iowa Act to boost pollution monitoring and ensure accurate fines at factory farms.”

Food & Water Watch Volunteer Nick Schutt, whose family has struggled with cancer diagnoses they tie to agricultural pollution in their water, said:

“Living in Iowa, we’re lucky to get by a month without another massive spill from the agribusiness industry. These corporations will continue to operate with reckless abandon because at worst they face a measly fine. Meanwhile, my family is paying the price with our health and it’s costing every Iowan access to clean water.”