landfills - Investigate Midwest

EPA environmental justice staff ousted amid ongoing industrial ag complaints

Trump’s rapid dismantling of federal agencies is disrupting key government oversight functions. Critics say cuts at the EPA will stall investigations into industrial ag pollution in marginalized communities.

By John McCracken, Investigate Midwest

/ 6 Feb 2025

EPA environmental justice staff ousted amid ongoing industrial ag complaints

Local Town Dumps A Thing Of The Past Due To High Cost Of Government Regulations

“See that brown building, to the left of the tree line? That’s the University of Dubuque. And a little further left, you can kind of see that little ridge,

By Lauren Wade/Iowa Watch

/ 17 Dec 2018

Small Iowa landfills began to close when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Iowa Department of Natural Resource

Local Town Dumps A Thing Of The Past Due To High Cost Of Government Regulations

Many small Iowa communities no longer can afford to maintain their local dumps when faced with increasing regulation and permitting fees by the EPA and Iowa Department of Natural Resources. That has forced new ways of thinking about waste management.

By Lauren Wade

/ 5 Dec 2018

Local Town Dumps A Thing Of The Past Due To High Cost Of Government Regulations

Iowans Throwing Away Valuable Food, Usable Materials and Recyclables At Alarming Rate

Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources sampled trash from 10 landfills and five transfer stations across Iowa for a study published in December 2017, looking to answer the question, “What are Iowans landfilling?” Tom Anderson, of the Iowa DNR’s Land Quality Bureau and the study’s project manager, ha

By Lauren Wade

/ 24 May 2018

Iowans Throwing Away Valuable Food, Usable Materials and Recyclables At Alarming Rate

News Quiz: Managing Iowa's Landfills

Iowans dumped 2.7 million tons of garbage into landfills last year. One method the Iowa Department of Natural Resources promotes to reduce the negative influence of dumping all that garbage has on the environment is called the Environmental Management System, but many Iowa landfill operators are rel

By IowaWatch

/ 22 Jul 2016

Database: Iowa Landfills Tonnage (2000-2015)

Each year, landfills must turn in information on the tonnage taken in, which is reported to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

By Lauren Mills

/ 17 Jun 2016

Paperwork Load, Time Commitment Keep Iowa Landfills From Adopting Plan Called Environment Friendly

The Environmental Management System, or EMS, was seen as an alternative to relying simply on giving credits to Iowa landfills that serve as incentives for accepting fewer tons of garbage. But adoption of this approach has been slow.

By Haley Hansel

/ 17 Jun 2016

Paperwork Load, Time Commitment Keep Iowa Landfills From Adopting Plan Called Environment Friendly

IowaWatch Connection: Turning Garbage Into Gas

What if we could turn our everyday trash into fuel that could power our cars? That time is closer than you think, and Iowa is on the forefront of this new technology. It's called "trashanol", turning garbage into gas.

By Jeff Stein

/ 8 Dec 2014

IowaWatch Connection: Turning Garbage Into Gas

Bioengineers hope turning garbage into gas opens a green frontier in Iowa, Midwest

The budding advanced biofuel industry stretches from Emmetsburg in the west to Marion in the east in Iowa, and also to several other parts of the country. Although business and political challenges remain, engineers have concocted an expensive cocktail of chemicals called enzymes that are too small

By Gabriella Dunn/IowaWatch and The Gazette

/ 4 Jun 2014

Bioengineers hope turning garbage into gas opens a green frontier in Iowa, Midwest

Podcast of IowaWatch Appearance on Bob Bruce's Feb. 21 WMT Radio Show

WMT radio show host Bob Bruce interviewed IowaWatch Executive Director-Editor Lyle Muller about a variety of things, including the landfills story by Sarah Hadley and Sujin Kim, on Feb.

By IowaWatch

/ 27 Feb 2013

Podcast of IowaWatch Appearance on Bob Bruce's Feb. 21 WMT Radio Show

State's Largest Landfill A Huge Expanse in Central Iowa

Reo Menning is giving a reporter a tour of Metro Park East Landfill, Iowa’s largest landfill and looking over the expanse when she brings up the fact the they

By Sujin Kim

/ 3 Feb 2013

State's Largest Landfill A Huge Expanse in Central Iowa