To the editor:

Unless you already know the Master Matrix is a set of 44 criteria. It’s used for the determination of approval for the construction application of a CAFO, a confined animal feeding operation.

Imagine you’re still in school and the teacher gives you a test where you need only 50 percent to pass. Where you don’t have to answer even half the questions and you get to pick the questions. Sound sweet? Well that is the Master Matrix.

Before the 2018 election, Representative Mike Sexton had a quote in the Fort Dodge Messenger, “I will work to put together a working group that includes the same amount of farmers and the same amount of environmentalists to study the Matrix.” Didn’t happen. He wouldn’t even co-sponsor a bill put forth by the Democrats to do just that. He wouldn’t urge Republican Dean Fisher to get the bill out of committee.

If you value clean water and air, the Matrix needs reform. Again, the applicant gets to pick the question and a review of 14 applicants show they skip the same 12 questions on every application. These dozen questions all deal with public and environmental protections such as water monitors, air filters, emergency containments, landscaping, etc. We need to elect people who care about all of us, not just corporate interest.

Dave Haynes

Duncombe