October Newsletter

October 15, 2025

The October, 2025, newsletter from the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club is now available.  In this issue, you will find:

Iowa's environment

  • Triennial Review, Sierra Club submits water standards recommendations to the Iowa DNR - Every three years, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conducts a Triennial Review of its water quality standards.  Part of the review is a determination of what changes need to be made to Iowa’s existing water quality standards.  After digging into these topics during the Review meeting, what jumped out was the lack of investment the State of Iowa and the DNR has made in water quality and improved water quality standards over the last two decades. 

  • Here's How to Take Action to Clean Up Iowa's Water! - As part of the Triennial Review, the DNR allows us to comment.  We all know that Iowa’s water quality has deteriorated and needs significant improvement.  After reviewing the plans, it is obvious that the DNR’s plan falls short.  It is important that the DNR hear from us during the public comment period.  We have made it easy for you to make a comment and send it on. 

  • Polk County Judge to rule on pipeline next steps - The Sierra Club and a number of other intervenors appealed the Iowa Utilities Commission decision to grant a permit for Summit Carbon Solutions to build its pipeline across Iowa.  The case was expected to be argued before a Polk County judge on October 10.  A few weeks before the argument, Summit's actions changed the whole process before the Polk County judge.  Summit requested that the Judge return the case to the Utilities Commission to consider a number of amendments Summit is requesting the Commission allow in its original permit - pipeline siting, pipe size, and permit conditions.  On October 10, the attorneys were arguing whether the judge should consider the original appeal, whether the judge should let the Utilities Commission consider the amendments and then allow an appeal, or to put the current appeal on hold until the Commission considers amendments to Summit's permit.  We are waiting for a decision from the judge.

  • Study Links Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant to Cancer Rates - A recent study by the Radiation and Public Health Project, led by Executive Director Joseph Mangano, MPH, MBA, finds troubling health trends among residents living near the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Linn and Benton counties.  Using decades of data from the Iowa Cancer Registry and the National Cancer Institute, researchers compared local cancer rates before and after the plant began operating in 1974. The results are alarming.  Even more striking are improvements in infant health since the plant’s shutdown in 2020.

Plus

October 17 – Saving Our Avian Resources (SOAR): Learn how hunting with lead ammunition harms Iowa’s wildlife, and what we can do to protect eagles and other birds.

October 24 – Risks of Nuclear: Join Dr. Maureen McCue, Dr. John Rachow, and researcher Joseph Mangano for a discussion on the health and safety impacts of nuclear power.

caterpillar

Photo of caterpillar by Nick Graceffa