AG candidate Nate Willems calls for greater accountability of Iowa polluters

Democratic candidate for Iowa attorney general Nate Willems said Wednesday that “bullying does not work” on him and he won’t be pulling ads targeting current Attorney General Brenna Bird in relation to an Iowa pollution case. 

Willems’ campaign has been threatened with a lawsuit from biofuel producer POET, after the campaign released an ad criticizing Bird for not pursuing further damages after it was discovered in 2024 that the plant had been releasing excessive amounts pollutants that can cause cancer and other health issues.

Bird has said she did not pursue further damages because the case was not referred to her office by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 

“The Iowa DNR assessed the statutory maximum fine, which was paid, and the matter was not referred to the Attorney General’s office for any further action,” Bird’s campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “Attorney General Brenna Bird will continue to hold corporate actors accountable according to the law, not politics.”

Willems argued the state’s legal office has the independent authority to take further action in such cases, regardless of whether the DNR refers the case.

“That’s not a good excuse,” Willems said. “The office just did not do its job in this POET instance.” 

The case at hand involves a POET-owned biorefinery in Shell Rock that Iowa DNR discovered had likely been emitting air pollutants in excess of permitted limits for several years. DNR levied its maximum administrative fine of $10,000 on the company, which was also required to pay nearly $43,000 in fees to the state for underreporting pollution.

Willems’ political ad “Shell Rock” features a family in the area who say they felt “betrayed” by the situation and the lack of further action from the attorney general’s office. The ad does not name POET as the company, though it does show aerial footage of the plant. The ad also highlights contributions from POET CEO Jeff Broin to Bird’s campaign.

POET’s legal team, in a letter to the Willems campaign threatening legal action, said the ad gives the impression that “POET knowingly concealed information about dangerous emissions from the public and bribed a state official to avoid any penalties.” 

“That implication, which was intentionally made by the Campaign, is 100% false,” the letter to the Willems campaign reads. 

A letter from counsel representing the Willems campaign said it would not pull the ad and held that the “statements at issue are substantially true,” citing reports from DNR. 

“The ad is accurate; every fact in it is true,” Willems said at a news conference Wednesday. “And I’ll say the other part directly because I think Iowans need to hear this out loud: bullying does not work on me.” 

The letter from POET said the company “inherited” the issue from the previous owner and that once it discovered the issue, it shut down the system and fixed the emissions issue. 

Willems said an individual who drives a car recklessly and causes an accident cannot blame the accident on the previous owner of the car, “so why should it be different for a multibillion-dollar corporation that pollutes our air?” 

While the letter threatening lawsuit from POET argues that voters should “not trust someone who does not bother to investigate and learn the truth with an Office that depends on investigating and learning the truth,” Willems said the ad was not about POET or its CEO, but about Bird’s record and choices.

“What happened in Shell Rock is not the exception – it is a pattern for Brenna Bird,” Willems said. “In corporate pollution incidents across the state, she routinely lets them off easy.” 

Bird has been criticized for settlements in pollution cases DNR referred to her about a massive fish kill in the East Nishnabotna River and repeated wastewater discharges from a meatpacking facility in Postville. 

Willems said if elected to the role, he would work with DNR to “pursue real penalties” in pollution cases, publish an annual report on pollution incidents referred to the office and their outcomes and notify residents in applicable areas when a pollution settlement has been reached. 

Willems said he would also refuse to accept contributions from companies, or their executives, if they are being investigated or have been found guilty of polluting Iowa’s landscape. 

“I will never back down when the health and safety of Iowa families is on the line, not from this company, not from their lawyers, not from anybody,” Willems said.