Dozens of Johnson & Cedar County Residents Oppose New Factory Farm Expansion Proposal

Johnson County Supervisors will make a formal up or down recommendation Thursday at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 19, at the Johnson County Administration Building on a new factory farm expansion by Ray Slach, who has a documented history of manure spills, fish kills, and other serious violations.

Iowa City, Iowa. A proposal by a large-scale land holder who has a history of environmental violations to expand one of his six factory farms near the Johnson County/Cedar County border is opposed by dozens of local residents on both sides of the Johnson/Cedar County borders, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) members announced today.

The landholder, Ray Slach, who already has more than 13,000 hogs, has submitted an application with Johnson County and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to expand an existing factory farm on Oasis Road in Scott Township from 2,400 hogs to 4,880. 

The Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) would be east of Iowa City and southwest of West Branch. Certainly West Branch would be downwind of it.

As a West Branch resident recently told CCI’s David Goodner, farm and environment organizer, “Slach doesn’t need another damned hog confinement.” 

If built, this expansion site alone will produce more than 1.4 million gallons of toxic manure every year.  Ray Slach will run through 12,000 corporate hogs per year just at this site alone – if it’s built.

Ray Slach has a long, troubling history of manure spills, water pollution, and other violations.

In August 2001, one of his facilities had a manure spill that killed 1,891 fish. 

In January 2013, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) busted him for spreading manure on fields that were not in his manure management plan.  He only had two years’ worth of manure application records instead of the required five.  This violation raises serious questions about whether he can safely handle his existing manure volumes (to say nothing of adding even more) and also undermines his honesty and integrity.

We are still unsure of the corporation behind him providing the hogs, but there’s no question he’s working with some big entity.  The big entity could be Cargill, Triumph Foods, or Iowa Select.    

CCI has also reviewed his construction permit application, manure management plan, and master matrix. CCI does not believe he has the points necessary to pass and can hand deliver to Johnson County officials on a silver platter everything they need for a strong legal argument recommending that the DNR deny a permit for this factory farm expansion.

However, that alone will not be enough.  What is most important is widespread, mass opposition by every day, grassroots folks in the area – people just like you and me.  There’s no question that this guy already has more than enough hogs, more than enough manure, he’s making more than enough money, he’s having trouble managing the volumes he has now, and doesn’t need to have any more.  Johnson and Cedar counties already have too many factory farms and too much manure.

Recommended next steps:

Continue to call and write the Johnson County supervisors at (319) 356-6000 or email sups@co.johnson.ia.us and voice your opposition to Ray Slach building more factory farms in Johnson County. 

Print off the enclosed petition, sign it, and spread it around to your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, people you see in the grocery store, at church, at work, etc.  If would be powerful if we can turn in hundreds of signatures from both sides of the county border next Thursday.  

Join Iowa CCI members for a planning conference call Sunday night at 8pm – 1.800.377.8846 passcode 36739804#

Attend the Johnson County Supervisor’s meeting Thursday morning at 9am, Johnson County Administration Building on Dubuque Street.

Use the information you know to write a strong, punchy letter to the editor in the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Cedar Rapids Gazette, and other local-area newspapers opposing the construction plan, calling out Ray Slach, and demanding county officials do everything in their power to stop it.  If you need help with talking points, just ask

David Goodner

Farm and Environment Organizer

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement

515.282.0484 (office)

515.991.6357 (cell)

david@iowacci.org

www.iowacci.org

We talk.  We act.  We get it done.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am a member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and just doubled my monthly financial support for CCI.

- - Maria Houser Conzemius