On Tuesday, October 14, 2008 the Environmental Protection Commission voted 6 in favor with one abstention to issue permits to two Dallas County hog facilities owned by Rob Manning, Jr. This action followed a denial of those same permits just two months earlier. What makes the case interesting, in addition to the huge amount of local press coverage this dispute earned, is that the EPC had made its earlier decision to withhold the permits without any legal basis. The applicant had satisfied the letter of the law in every respect.
— James Pray
Iowa Environmental Compliance 