The facilities were approved with stipulations this week by Iowa's Environmental Protection Commission (EPC), which had earlier blocked the project.

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In August, the EPC -- of which Ralph Klemme, of Le Mars, was a member -- denied permits for two facilities planned near Dawson with a 6-2 vote.

Klemme was one of the two people that voted to approve the confinements.

In September, Klemme resigned from the EPC, stating that 6-2 vote was the "final straw" for him.

"The facilities and the site met the requirements of the DNR, they met the requirements of Iowa law," Klemme said. "At that point how can the commission go beyond what's required?"

The EPC's decision, he said, opened a can of worms.

"How can we decipher which can be and which can't be when the commission denied the permit for that site?" he asked. "I believe many other sites will come before the EPC because people will be testing them."

The recently approved confinements are in the Raccoon River Watershed, which flows to Des Moines, Klemme noted.

"There are 1.2 to 1.4 million acres in that watershed," he said. "If you deny one project there, you're going to deny all."

Klemme also said he felt the EPC went beyond their power in adding more requirements for the owner to meet.

The new approval requires environmental stipulations including tree lines, grass buffers and restrictions on when manure from the confinements can be spread, according to a report from the Associated Press (AP).

That, Klemme said, was going too far.

"The commission feels they have the right and power to go above and beyond by requiring a couple of minor things, but if they're going to have that kind of power, they should be elected, not appointed by the governor," Klemme said.

The hog confinements, according to the AP report, are to be owned by Robert Manning Jr., of Granger, will have room for 15,000 hogs. The hogs will be owned by Minnesota-based Cargill.

Manning's plan, the report stated, is to produce enough manure to fertilize 7,000 Dallas County acres. Construction could begin this fall.

Klemme said he felt this issue was one of "common sense."

"I became frustrated as a part of the commission. I'd like to help protect agriculture more," Klemme said. "I hope someone steps up to do it."