The Region 7 administrator for the EPA sent out a news release recently (11/18) patting the back of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and "local businesses" for reducing SO2 (sulfur dioxide) pollution, enabling Muscatine to achieve compliance with national air quality standards.
Truth is, legal action by the Iowa Attorney General's office (under Democrat Tom Miller) and a civil lawsuit by local residents led to the significant improvement in local air quality and forced the primary polluter – Grain Processing Corporation (owned by Kent Feeds) – to install millions of dollars in new plant equipment to curb SO2 emissions.
When contacted by bettendorf.com, officials with the Region 7 EPA office in Kansas City were ignorant or oblivious to the lengthy history of SO2 pollution in Muscatine or the legal action by other agencies and the courts that led directly to the plant upgrades and lower SO2 pollution
So why did Region 7 EPA Administrator Jim Macy issue the news release proclaiming only the work of IDNR Director Kyla Lyon and unnamed "local businesses" – without mentioning the civil and state lawsuits?
"The EPA was not party to the class action lawsuit and cannot comment on those proceedings," the Region 7 office replied in a follow-up email.
While stating nothing about the legal action involved in the pollution reduction, Region 7 EPA Administrator Macy was effusive in his praise of the IDNR and nameless "local businesses."
"This milestone achievement represents years of hard work and dedication on behalf of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, as well as local businesses committed to improving air quality in Muscatine," Macy stated in the news release.
And, in a nod to Macy's boss, he quoted EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's vision for the agency which involves the five pillars of "Powering the Great American Comeback."
Macy claimed the Muscatine air pollution reduction "was another example of cooperative federalism," once again completely ignoring the legal intervention that brought about the SO2 emission reductions.
