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Iowa’s bird flu death toll tops 13 million
Two more poultry flocks in Iowa — including one with more than 5 million egg-laying chickens — were infected by a deadly and highly contagious avian influenza, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship reported Friday. The new detections of the virus were in a massive commercial egg-laying flock in Osceola County, and in […]
DNR finds ‘forever chemicals’ in 12 water supplies
A sampling of about 70 community water supplies in Iowa found detectable levels of toxic chemicals that persist indefinitely in the environment in a dozen of them, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The DNR began its sampling late last year and published the last of its results this week on its website. […]
Iowa COVID infection rate falls to 68 per day
The state’s rate of new coronavirus infections continues to recede from its peak in January, but the number of infected people receiving inpatient treatment at Iowa hospitals increased slightly from a week ago, according to state and federal public health data. On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported 478 new confirmed cases for […]
Bird flu found in fourth Buena Vista facility
A deadly and highly contagious avian influenza was found in a commercial flock of about 35,500 turkeys in Buena Vista County, the fourth such detection in that county, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said Wednesday. The rate of detection of the virus in Iowa has accelerated. So far there have been 10 […]
Republican lawmakers rip eminent domain proposal
New legislation that attempts to delay the threat of eminent domain for 10 months for landowners unwilling to allow liquid carbon pipelines on their properties does little to help their overall struggle, two Republican state lawmakers said. They said the political clout and wealth of at least one of the pipelines’ backers — Bruce Rastetter, […]
Ag secretary: Deadly bird flu ‘could get worse’ in Iowa
State officials have confirmed two more instances of a deadly and highly contagious avian influenza in commercial poultry facilities in Iowa — one of them a 1.5 million flock of egg-laying chickens in Guthrie County — according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. “You can see a scenario where this could get […]
Le Mars company fined for two fish kills in 4 years
A Le Mars company leaked ammonia-laden water into a nearby creek twice in less than four years — which led to small fish kills each time — and has been fined a total of $17,000, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports. Nor-Am Cold Storage provides refrigerated warehouse storage and other related services. Both […]
Iowa birds account for 43% of avian flu victims
The number of commercial and backyard detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Iowa this year is less than a 10th of the nation’s total, yet the state accounts for about 43% of the total birds affected, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. That’s because Iowa’s infected flocks have been much larger than those […]
Central City stops using PFAS-contaminated well
A small eastern Iowa town will use one of its two water wells only in emergency cases — to extinguish a fire or if the other well fails — because it is contaminated by toxic chemicals in concentrations that approach current federal health guidelines, according to the city’s public works director. Sampling in February by […]
City of Bloomfield fined by DNR for illegal burn pile
The city of Bloomfield illegally burned tree debris too close to nearby houses — spurring complaints from the neighbors — despite several warnings that it wasn’t allowed, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The city established a new site early last year to deposit the debris near Lake Fisher, just west of the […]
Bird flu strikes third Buena Vista County facility
A commercial flock of about 54,000 turkeys in Buena Vista County is the sixth location in Iowa to be stricken by a deadly and highly contagious avian influenza since the beginning of this month, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Buena Vista now accounts for half of the virus detections and […]
State cancels bird exhibitions because of avian flu
Iowa agriculture officials on Wednesday barred people from gathering with live birds from different locations for at least a month to help prevent the spread of highly contagious and deadly avian influenza. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s cancellation of poultry events has the potential to affect county and state fair exhibitions, depending […]