Jared Strong

Get to know the Gazette’s Investigative Reporter

Most of the private wells tested in Swisher — which lies about 2 miles south of The Eastern Iowa Airport — are contaminated by toxic PFAS. It might be years before the state determines how far the chemicals have spread from the airport.

A rural Iowa county's effort to silence a frequent critic — by threatening a lawsuit against a retired school nurse — might have backfired.

Pattison Sand Company has asked to nearly quadruple the amount of water it pumps from wells and surface waters to expand its quarrying operation. Some worry it might lead to out-of-state water sales.

In this piece — part of a series from The Gazette and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk — a look at a lawsuit that targets the 40-year-old “Swampbuster” law that aims to prevent farmers from destroying wetlands.

A well that supplies drinking water to the east side of Waverly in northeast Iowa has elevated levels of two toxic chemicals that persist indefinitely and are newly regulated by the federal government.

The owner of a small northeast Iowa dairy recently agreed to pay $1,260 for contaminating a nearby creek with an unknown amount of manure a year ago, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

The neighborhood in a wooded area north of Iowa City is expected to take steps to reduce the amount of chloride their water softeners discharge.

County health officials say the child went into several stores in Coralville and Iowa City on June 4 and 5 and might have exposed others to the virus. It is the third known infection in Iowa this year.

A northwest Iowa man accused of cutting and stealing more than 50 trees from a public area — including a 175-year-old bur oak — owes about $58,000 in fines and restitution.