Hunter
10/27/25
An environmental group has filed a suit that argues the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and a Postville meatpacking company coordinated behind the scenes to keep details of a negotiated settlement from the public.
Sentient Media reports the settlement, between the state and meatpacker Agri Star Meat and Poultry LLC included an agreement by the company to pay a $50,000 fine for around 60 water pollution violations — an amount equivalent to less than one day of intentional Clean Water Act violations.
Driftless Water Defenders filed the motion last week and provided documents previously classified as confidential. They claim the documents show a concerted effort to rush the settlement through the courts before the public heard about it.
Emails suggest that the attorney general’s office conferred with counsel for Agri Star about the timing for filing the settlement with the court and the press release, hindering the public’s right to file a motion to intervene.. One email from July 18th showed Assistant Iowa Attorney General David Stewart wrote lawyers for Agri Star that he was going to file the consent decree late in the day, as quote, “News organizations monitor filings and may publish something before the CD is entered by the Court.”
The independent journalism site, which focuses on the global food system, was part of multiple groups who filed suit against Agri Star in February. They charged the company with habitually illegally discharging excessive animal waste into public waterways.
Despite the Clean Water Act violations, which could trigger a fine of $68,000 per day, Attorney General Brenna Bird fined Agri Star just $50,000 for approximately 60 water quality violations.
Sentient’s article can be found at the following link:
https://sentientmedia.org/iowa-officials-quietly-fast-tracked-legal-settlement/