Recently in Mason City, Iowa a decision was made that will impact all of North Central Iowa and Southern Minnesota. A hog kill house poised to kill 10,000 pigs per day. As per our knowledge no studies have been done in relation to the impact that it will have on our community and the surrounding areas. This project has been green-lighted by the states Governor Terry Branstad as well as rushed through by the Mayor of Mason City Eric Bookmeyer. As controversial a topic as it's been, no naysayers opinions have been listened to, this is our chance to show that we do have a voice.

There are many issues regarding this project, firstly it has been pushed through so quickly that no single person seems to know all the finite details aside from the Mayor himself and members from the "family owned" corporation Prestage. What we do know and from what we've heard is that this company will provide up to and possibly 2,000 jobs to Mason City in which struggles to hold a population of 24,000. Housing in our city is already an issue, proponents to the building of the kill house say that this will be an economic boon to the construction agencies within the city. The problem is that the jobs within the city are both non-union and reportedly between $12.50-14.00 an hour. Most factory jobs in our town start well above the higher wage and supporters brag that the starting wage is above the areas median wage, both are bad signs. When housing runs out workers at this company will not be able to afford new housing and be forced to move to the smaller outlying towns.

The next problem is that Mason City already has a low employment rate the way it is. Where are they going to find the employees to fill these above median wage jobs? More than likely they will be shipped in from who knows where. We are not aware of the background check process this company will be performing, if any. Troubling as it seems the company will be receiving a huge subsidy from the state where they should be wanting to build anyways. They will have to keep these jobs filled or not get a big fat check signed by the Governor himself. It's not a racist argument to say that crime will go up when our population increases, it's a fact. We as a city are not equipped to currently handle this type of influx, not our police our schools or our human services.

Another hard hitting aspect will be the family owned farms, we are still an area that still has these. It will take more than what we have in our area to keep up with 10,000 hogs killed every single day of the week. So what happens then? Well corporate owned farms come in. We have rules in play in our county the Board of Supervisors have tried to put into place to try and keep this sort of thing under control, Corporate Farms will not abide by these. They will undoubtedly spring up everywhere. The smell people talk about won't be from this "self contained state of the art facility," it will come from the dozens of Corporate Farms sprouting up all over North Iowa and Southern Minnesota. People in the country and towns surrounding areas will not be able to escape the smell of hog waste, nor will our water beds and supply. Iowa already has some of the worst water quality in Iowa, this will indeed worsen the effect. After the Corporate Farms move on in that will inevitably drive prices down. That will hurt everyone in the area and force some family farms out of business like they have in some areas companies like Prestage has when they have moved into town.

Jobs for Jobs is not an excuse to railroad something potentially harmful for our environment and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation farmers. Projects like these are usually done with the consideration of the Board of Supervisors and in this case it was not. We have a voice, and we will be heard! Sign this petition and pass it to everyone that cares about our states and the environment we pass along to our children!