A Sac County business agreed to sanctions and directives from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) following an unauthorized alteration of a creek. Pat Hoefling had filed a joint application for a livestock trailer washout and bio-dry project for Triple H Truck Wash in Odebolt and it was issued in November of 2019. However, according to the DNR, an anonymous complaint was made in August that Hoefling was excavating, widening and straightening the creek on the property. Not only was this prior to the permit issuance, there was no authorization made for altering a little more than 4.5 square miles of drainage on the streambed. In September, a Notice of Violation was presented that ordered Hoefling to apply for flood plain development or restore the creek back to the pre-project conditions. At the end of the year, no application had been submitted. In early May of this year, the DNR and Hoefling signed an Administrative Consent Order that gave him 30 days to file for the required application and to pay an administrative penalty of $3,000. If the application is denied, Hoefling will be required to restore the streambed within 60 days of such notification by the DNR.
