June News

Protecting Iowa's Environment

• Water Woes in Linn County - Citizens in Linn County in eastern Iowa are grappling with the prospect that there might not be enough water to meet the needs of common ordinary residents, businesses, industries, and data centers.  Use of water by industries is expected to explode in the coming years, brought on by 10 data centers, either being built or proposed, by Google and QTS, near the Cedar Rapids airport; 6 data centers proposed by Google near Palo, north of Cedar Rapids; 2 gas plants, one in Cedar Rapids and one on Highway 30 at the Linn County line with Benton County; and the restart of Duane Arnold nuclear plant near Palo.

• Iowa DNR Gives HyCast Foundry an Air Quality Operating Permit - HyCast Foundry is located in Fairfield, Iowa.  The foundry has been in existence since 1912.  After a series of changes in ownership, the foundry was shut down in April of 2024 and restarted in November of 2024.  The restart of the foundry requires that HyCast renew its operating permit required by Title V of the Clean Air Act.  The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issues a permit which is being reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency.  Especially concerning about the allowed emissions, is the amount of hazardous air pollutants allowed by the permit and whether there are enforceable controls that will keep the hazardous emissions below 25 tons per year.  

• Summit’s Latest Legal Battle - In 2022, Summit Carbon Solutions contracted with Welspun Tubular to manufacture $182.5 million of pipe needed for the Summit Carbon Pipeline project, with production set to commence on May 8, 2023.  Summit asked Welspun for delay after delay because the estimated project construction start date was “dramatically off-schedule”.  Summit finally canceled the purchase agreement on February 19, 2024.  According to their Purchase Agreement, a cancellation would entitle Welspun Tubular to recover a cancellation charge of ten percent of the price of the cancelled pipe up to a maximum cancellation charge of 15 million dollars and to recover the price of materials purchased to manufacture the cancelled pipe, less the net salvage value of the materials.  Now the parties are fighting about this in a courtroom in Delaware.  The case was scheduled to be heard in front of a Delaware Judge on Monday, June 15, 2026. 

• What we’re listening to: Carbon Cowboys Podcast - Carbon Cowboys is a new podcast by Drilled Media and Intercept Brazil that exposes Bruce Rastetter and Summit’s controversial push for corn ethanol and corporate ag in one of the most fragile and important places in the world - the Brazilian Rainforest.  From Iowa to Brazil, Carbon Cowboys highlights the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.

• REAP assembly meetings - "Every two years, Iowans gather for regional assemblies to direct the future of our state’s natural and cultural resources,” said Michelle Wilson, REAP coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “This is your chance to learn about REAP, connect with like-minded citizens who are interested in natural and cultural resource work, and voice how REAP can better serve your community and your region.”