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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · 28d

Thanks, Eli! Much appreciated.

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Sep 3

open.substack.com/pub/riverrac...

A Misstep in the Wrong Direction

News on August 25 reported Sheriff Mike Naig unholstering his squirt gun yet again to apply a gentle mist onto the raging inferno that is Iowa’s water quality and overall environmental condition.

open.substack.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 30

Why aren’t more people talking about this? Seems notable that Polk County officials don’t care to promote or raise awareness about the report’s conclusions. Are any local reporters gonna ask Polk County folks what’s going on here?

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A report tied Iowa’s water pollution to agriculture. Then the money to promote it mysteriously disappeared

Roughly $400,000 in the $1m budget was for public awareness – but those funds were recently ‘zeroed out’

www.theguardian.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 29

Congrats Polk County! You win the “We All Want Clean Water” award for 2025 for zeroing out the CISWRA budget after funding a report and holding a community event that energized Iowans to take action on our water quality. Way to sustain the momentum!

www.thenewlede.org/2025/08/iowa...

As Iowans wrestle with polluted waters, politics get in the way

By Carey Gillam When a team of scientists embarked two years ago on a $1 million landmark study of Iowa’s persistent water quality problems, they knew that the findings would be important to share. B...

www.thenewlede.org

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Aug 24

cedarrapidsgazette-ia.newsmemory.com?publink=2f2e...

Demanding action

GUEST COLUMN | CHRIS JONESA progressive platform for Iowa food and agr

cedarrapidsgazette-ia.newsmemory.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 16

Sounds more like ransom or extortion to me….

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 15

You can’t make this shit up. Representative of IFU says we can “suspect” things like the water, pesticides & fertilizer can cause cancer, but then turns around and says regulations won’t work and farmers simply need to be paid more to change their ways.

www.timesrepublican.com/news/todays-...

Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Environmental Council and Harkin Institute host cancer listening session at Meskwaki Tribal Center

MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT — As event moderator Tommy Hexter asked the 20 or so people in attendance for Wednesday night’s listening session how many of them had been affected by cancer in one way or another...

www.timesrepublican.com

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Aug 15

From @artcullen.bsky.social
“The probable D nominee, Rob Sand, is still trying to find religion on how to think about pollution. He does not want to be perceived as being anti-agriculture. What he fails to understand is that you do not have to pollute to farm.”

www.stormlake.com/stories/edit...

Editorials: People are waking up - Storm Lake Times Pilot

It isn’t often that over 1,000 Iowans will gather on a summer’s Monday evening to learn about nitrogen, phosphorous and water. Something is in the air. People filled Sheslow Auditorium at …

www.stormlake.com

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Aug 15

Hear about the D day invasion of crop dusters and other fun stuff here from me with @zacharyos.bsky.social

cornholechampions.substack.com/p/the-common...

📻 The common good and the establishment (w/ Chris Jones) - Cornhole Champions Interview

Toss some bags at agricultural policy... why ethanol might be our biggest mistake... and what a progressive water policy might look like.

cornholechampions.substack.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 15

Chris is spot on in this piece. Who wins with this decision? New dischargers. An enterprising reporter should track who receives new discharge (NPDES) permits into these segments now. Those are the interests that greased the skids to make this happen, Iowans’ water quality and health be damned.

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Aug 15

The call is coming from inside the house

www.thegazette.com/environment-...

'Clearly misguided': Experts condemn EPA's decision to rescind expansion of Iowa impaired water list

Less than a year after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added segments of five Iowa rivers to the impaired waters list for nitrate, the same agency — now operating under the Trump administrati...

www.thegazette.com

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Aug 15

The call is coming from inside the house

www.thegazette.com/environment-...

'Clearly misguided': Experts condemn EPA's decision to rescind expansion of Iowa impaired water list

Less than a year after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added segments of five Iowa rivers to the impaired waters list for nitrate, the same agency — now operating under the Trump administrati...

www.thegazette.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 13

“The new policy would aim to promote discussion of both viewpoints, rather than presenting one side or the other as a settled fact…”

dailyiowan.com/2025/08/12/r...

Regents approve new policy aimed at “indoctrination,” instead of anti-DEI, CRT policy

Iowa Board of Regent-controlled universities are now required to teach controversial topics “in a manner that fosters critical thinking and avoids indoctrination of one perspective” under a new board ...

dailyiowan.com

David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 12

The article is paywalled, but this is some complete and utter bullshit…

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Jon Green @modestholdings.com · Aug 7

Were I to run for governor, I would make environmental quality a centerpiece of my campaign from the word "go," rather than trying to workshop something on the fly. And to be honest, I'd probably just plagiarize @theswinerepublic.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/riverrac...

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Aug 7

@zacharyos.bsky.social
@amierivers.bsky.social and @iowastartingline.com doing a nice job with this cancer series, with some help from @dcwiertny.bsky.social

iowastartingline.com/cancer-in-io...

How pesticides help fuel Iowa’s cancer crisis

Pesticides are part of why Iowa’s fields are so productive. Research into pesticide exposure also connects them to our cancer crisis.

iowastartingline.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Aug 1

I’m old enough to remember when American Public Media reported that saturated buffers are a sham and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Here, we celebrate this wasteful spending as if that report never happened….

iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/idals...

IDALS breaks ground on water quality projects in Tama and Grundy counties • Iowa Capital Dispatch

IDALS is beginning construction on 18 water quality and nitrate reduction projects in Tama and Grundy counties.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Jul 31

Critical infrastructure.

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Jul 27

Here’s ISU extension talking about more N application yet this year.
Make the case this institution cares about water quality. Go ahead.

agupdate.com/iowafarmerto...

Is it too late for rescue N in 2025?

Editor’s note: The following was written by Richard Roth, Iowa State University assistant professor and Extension nitrogen science and soil fertility specialist, and Sotirios Archontoulis, professor o...

agupdate.com

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

The Associated Press @apnews.com · Jul 26

Michigan has become a leader in safe drinking water after the Flint crisis, but mobile home parks remain a rough spot.

Michigan led on safe water after Flint, but mobile home parks are stubborn rough spot

Michigan has become a leader in safe drinking water after the Flint crisis, but mobile home parks remain a rough spot.

bit.ly

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Sentient @sentientmedia.org · Jul 25

A hog slaughtering facility in Sioux City, Iowa promised to bring jobs to town, but blood and pollution came with Seaboard Triumph Foods as well. In footage provided to Sentient, animal waste can be seen flowing into a drain in the ground.

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Sentient @sentientmedia.org · Jul 25

According to one source, the facility has caused a strain on the city’s wastewater treatment.

Read the investigation by @ninaelkadi.com:
buff.ly/7Xqj8zI

At an Iowa Pork Plant, Piles of Dead Pigs and Wafting Sulphur Dioxide

When climate technology breaks down, the results can be deadly.

sentientmedia.org

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Don Carr @doncarr.bsky.social · Jul 23

2 million miles of point source pollution

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Jul 23

www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinio...

Iowa State researchers obscure the truth on water quality | Opinion

Chris Jones, in a new letter, rebuts a guest essay's assertions about the causes of unsafe water in Iowa.

www.desmoinesregister.com

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Reposted by David Cwiertny

Chris Jones @theswinerepublic.bsky.social · Jul 23

www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinio...

Iowa State researchers obscure the truth on water quality | Opinion

Chris Jones, in a new letter, rebuts a guest essay's assertions about the causes of unsafe water in Iowa.

www.desmoinesregister.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Jul 23

👀

www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinio...

Iowa State researchers obscure the truth on water quality | Opinion

Chris Jones, in a new letter, rebuts a guest essay's assertions about the causes of unsafe water in Iowa.

www.desmoinesregister.com

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David Cwiertny @dcwiertny.bsky.social · Jul 19

And if Iowans are looking for a local angle, we have been waiting since 2010 for a new health assessment of nitrate that may tell us the SDWA standard of 10 mg/L as N isn’t sufficient to protect folks from cancer and adverse birth outcomes. The future of that assessment is seriously in doubt….

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