West Des Moines, IA — This evening, at least 35 people attended a Food & Water Watch hosted community forum at HiFi Brew Lounge in West Des Moines on solutions to Iowa’s worsening factory farm water pollution crisis. Speakers called for passage of the Clean Water for Iowa Act, introduced for the first time this year, which would require water pollution monitoring at more than 4,000 factory farms currently operating in Iowa without pollution oversight.

A new interactive map, released last month by Food & Water Watch, finds that Iowa ranks #1 in the nation for factory farm waste — a clear risk to the environment and public health. This comes as Iowa ranks #2 in the nation for cancer rates, and more than half the state’s assessed waters are impaired.

“My family has had a front row seat to the industrialization of Iowa’s agricultural landscape. We’ve paid for it with our health,” said Food & Water Watch volunteer Nick Schutt of Alden, Iowa, one of the speakers featured at the forum. “Today, our family farm is surrounded by factory farms, polluting our water with huge amounts of waste and making us sick. My parents and all five of my siblings have been diagnosed with cancer — it is families like mine who are paying the true cost of factory farming in Iowa. Our legislators must side with the people and pass the Clean Water for Iowa Act.”

Food & Water Watch Iowa Organizer Michaelyn Mankel said: “Factory farms are to blame for Iowa’s worsening water pollution crisis. Our legislators must prioritize the environment and public health by fighting for clean water next session. That means passing the Clean Water for Iowa Act to crack down on factory farm polluters.”