POLK COUNTY, Iowa — A member of the Polk County Board of Supervisors is pressing the Environmental Protection Agency to reinstate the impaired waterways listing for the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers.
Polk County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt McCoy, who represents District 1, penned a letter to the EPA on Friday criticizing the agency’s decision to remove the rivers from its impaired waters list earlier this month.
Seven segments of Iowa rivers, including water in the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers, were initially added to the list in 2024 due to the agency’s concerns about concentrations of nitrate and nitrite — a decision contested by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources…