LTE: No fairness in way neighbors are treated
A truthful, and heartbreaking, letter-to-the-editor from Iowa CCI member Charlotte Witry from Waterloo.
She ask the telling question: who do our government protections, rules and regulations work for - everyday people or corporate ag?
No fairness in the way neighbors are treated
It is 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. I just opened the door to let the dog out and was greeted by a foul-smelling manure odor from the factory hog farm that is located 1 mile west of our residence. I have a heartsick feeling because there are three more factory hog lots of 2,400 head each under construction within 1.5 miles of our home.
Thus, we are surrounded. No matter from which way the wind blows, we will get the noxious, possibly health-threatening stink.
Our farm has been in our family for more than 100 years. We have lived here, farmed the land, raised our family, cared for, worked for and improved our farmstead through the years. Not only has our quality of life been stolen, but our greatest asset, our home’s value, has been diminished and is now worth a fraction of its prior value.
Even a criminal gets his day in court. We get nothing. No hearing, no judge, no jury, no compensation. Is this what our founding fathers in our Constitution meant by freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Have our esteemed rulers in Des Moines decided that huge corporations’ rights to greedy profits supersede the rights of the individual? The government is charged with guaranteeing these rights for all citizens. It has failed miserably in this obligation.
The courts have ruled that government cannot take individual property for new roads, etc., without just compensation. Can the government make laws to enable the individual citizen’s property to be diminished in liveability and in value without compensation? What is fair and where is the logic?As a result of events not of our making and beyond our control, a life’s work, savings and all of our dreams are destroyed with no hope or possibility of reversal. Is this really America?— Charlotte Witry, Waterloo
Learn more
See the map illustrating the influx of new/expanding factory farms this spring and what CCI members are doing to fight back.
Take Action
Right now, while hundreds of families are worried about their quality of live, property values and environmental impact, the Assoc. of Business and Industry is trying to formalize a rule that would force the Iowa DNR to permanently take a "hands off approach" to factory farms.
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