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Cairycat

(1,762 posts)
Fri Sep 22, 2017, 07:32 PM Sep 2017

What chance does Iowa's enviroment have, with stuff like this going on?

http://stormlake.com/articles/2017/09/20/blackballed-educating-counties-about-manure

This guy was fired, basically, for not allowing big ag to do whatever they want. From the article:

Gene Tinker smelled his own demise in June. He was the worker who oversaw animal feeding operations for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Representatives from the Iowa Farm Bureau and Iowa Pork Producers were in Director Chuck Gipps office complaining that Friday about Tinker educating county boards of supervisors what their capacity might be in objecting to hog confinement sitings.

...

He filed a grievance over his dismissal, after all. Tinker pointed out in his hearing that he was not fired for budget reasons. Fees collected from producers filing manure management plans are supposed to be used, per Iowa Code, strictly for oversight of animal feeding operations. The account had a $1 million carryover every year. The funds were scooped and spent internally for other IDNR functions, including the director’s office, Tinker alleged, which allegations might yet be tested in court.

Tinker started with the DNR 14 years ago after a career for Extension in Minnesota and at Iowa State. He says he was trained as an educator, and saw his obligation as educating everyone about livestock rules.

...

“Make sure big business can do whatever it wants without limit,” Tinker says. “Everything is hunky dory so long as you don’t do anything.”

To hell with the people who live in this (once) "beautiful land" - the only thing that matters, apparently, is corporate profits.

So Tinker served under Vilsack, Culver, and Branstad as well as Reynolds. But it's now he's getting fired (for doing his f'ing job!) in her administration. If anything, I think she's worse than Branstad!
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