Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Chipped wood debris, possibly from flood-damaged Linn County homes, will soon be used to create energy at a Wisconsin biomass facility.
The contract, approved Tuesday by the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency, states that at least 6,000 tons of chipped wood debris will be sold to Michigan-based DTE Energy Services for use in a modified coal plant in Cassville, Wis. that is being retrofitted to burn biomass to produce energy. The project is made possible in part through grants and loans provided by the state.
The local agency will receive $4 per ton for the debris, which will be prepared at the existing compost site near downtown Cedar Rapids, and DTE will provide shipping to the Wisconsin plant, according to Marie DeVries, planner and contract administrator for the Solid Waste Agency. Although the Cedar Rapids agency has been grinding up wood for compost use for some time, the requirements as to which wood is appropriate for compost differs from what is appropriate for biomass uses.
“This is a project that has been in development since last winter,” DeVries said, adding that the project was not done specifically to address the debris that will be generated when more than 1,000 flood-damaged homes in Cedar Rapids are demolished. “We simply don’t know yet how much of the flood debris will be appropriate for this project or used in other projects.”
As an added incentive for wood products to be diverted from the landfill, organic loads that are sent to the grinder cost $15 a ton. Loads taken directly to the landfill, however, are cost $35 per ton. Since landfill space in Linn County has been an historically controversial issue, extending the life of existing facilities is a win-win situation for both residents and officials.
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