David Cwiertny
@dcwiertny.bsky.social
Director CHEEC, Professor of Environmental Engineering and Chemistry, University of Iowa.
The Trump administration has announced a new research program to help us better understand microplastics. Let’s break down what it means. foodfix.co/epa-calls-fo...
EPA calls for more focus on microplastics in water
The Trump administration has announced a new research program to help us better understand microplastics. Let’s break down what it means.
foodfix.co
Barely March, and the weather is just starting to warm….gonna be a rough Spring and early Summer for communities reliant on surface water. Apparently, it will take a large swath of Iowans losing access to safe drinking water before we treat this issue seriously.
Chris Jones@theswinerepublic.bsky.social · 7mo agoFolks, there’s gonna be a lot of nitrate news this year I’m afraid
We have around a dozen free-standing kiosks or vending machines selling water in Iowa, but these water sources are poorly regulated and rarely monitored. Please read and share our deep dive into kiosk water quality (open access!). Unfortunately, some kiosks can release lead into the purchased water.
American Chemical Society@acs.org · 8mo agoFreestanding water vending machines or water-dispensing kiosks are often marketed as providing cleaner water than tap water. A study published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology took a closer look at what’s in that water. 💧 [1/2]
The researchers compared water dispensed from kiosks and tap water from nearby municipalities across six U.S. states, finding that the two water types can contain different contaminants. Learn more about the paper's results: buff.ly/yQ0Zu0f Image credit: Samantha Zuhlke [2/2]
Freestanding water vending machines or water-dispensing kiosks are often marketed as providing cleaner water than tap water. A study published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology took a closer look at what’s in that water. 💧 [1/2]
I have a PhD in Chemistry but I’m an air quotes scientist according to Iowa republicans www.newtondailynews.com/article/816,...
Feenstra says Iowa needs to better promote ag and water quality efforts
Congressman was warned by state senator at Newton event that Democrats will make water quality a big issue for midterm election
newtondailynews.com
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’
theguardian.com
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...
thenewlede.org
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...
timesrepublican.com
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 …
stormlake.com
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
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 · last yr.The call is coming from inside the house www.thegazette.com/environment-...
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...
thegazette.com
“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
The article is paywalled, but this is some complete and utter bullshit…
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...
A Progressive Platform for Iowa Food and Agriculture
Secretary of Agriculture is one of seven executive offices Iowans see on their off-year voting ballot.
open.substack.com
Iowa Capital Dispatch@iowacapitaldispatch.com · last yr.State Auditor Rob Sand, who is running as a Democratic candidate for governor, said Thursday he is still “learning” and “listening” to stakeholders to develop a plan toward what some have called a water quality crisis in Iowa, Cami Koons reports.
@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
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
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
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
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.
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
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….
David Cwiertny@dcwiertny.bsky.social · last yr.Difficult to put into words how devastating this is for environmental and public health protection. We will be less safe, more at risk, and our environment will be far more polluted and degraded because of this. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/c...
