Readers Write (Aug. 14): Lake Superior hog lot, turkey and resort bailouts, Norwood Teague fallout, Iran nuclear deal

There are ways to manage the stink and waste runoff from huge concentrated animal farms, but it requires extra equipment and costs that the owner is not going to be willing to do, unless they're forced to do it ("Hog-lot fight looms along Lake Superior," Aug. 13).

For example, the stink from all of the manure can be managed by using plug flow methane digesters that produce odorless compost. The methane from the digester can be burned in a microturbine generator to produce heat and electricity for the farm.

Runoff can be managed with an impermeable clay-lined ditch surrounding the farm. The collected wastewater is used in the methane digester, then passed through an artificial wetland on the farm property, which then produces clean water to be released from the farm or reused onsite again.

However, due to the proposed hog farm being so far north, an artificial wetland is going to freeze solid in the winter and will be ineffective. It can be kept warm and productive by putting large, clear-span greenhouse roofs over the ponds. Also, there would be plenty of waste heat from the farm, both from the methane burning and just from the animal body heat, so it would be possible to heat the wetland during the winter.

Doing all this would protect groundwater and keep the peace with neighbors by controlling smell, but it is an added expense for the farm owner that will cut into profit.

Bailouts for businesses such as turkey farmers and resort owners are not just a slippery slope (Minnesota section, Aug. 13), it's insanity. Do you suppose that in the middle of the 19th century as beaver hats became less popular and as we nearly drove beavers to extinction, the government would have given the Hudson Bay Co. a bailout? Or as travel modes changed that we considered giving the world's largest stagecoach operator, Wells Fargo, a bailout? No. They were forced to change their business models.

We are in the 21st century. We need to face the fact that some business models are outdated and unsustainable. Rather than supporting old models, let's prop up some of the more sustainable models like small organic farms and new forms of energy.

If there were only one resort along Lake Mille Lacs, that resort would not need a taxpayer bailout, so the problem should be understood as there being more resorts than there is demand. All businesses cope with changes in demand. Demand (for resort occupancy on Mille Lacs) is diminished now because the lake has been overfished for decades. Mostly that's the fault of the resort owners, because they have been the force demanding unsustainable fishing limits when they should have been the very people demanding lower limits all along. (Better to have a lower limit if that allows fishing for 100 years than to allow the higher limits that, after a couple decades, have now depleted the fish population to where it will take years to recover, or taxpayer intervention.)

Many of the resorts that get taxpayer dollars will fail anyway; the subsidies only delay that. I suppose, however, that since we don't expect billionaire sports team owners to take responsibility for their own business success, we shouldn't expect anyone to.

I applaud Jim Lukaszewski's Aug. 11 commentary ("Still in search of the perfect apology"). It's been more than 40 years since the Harvard Business Review published its landmark article "Sexual harassment: some see it, others won't," yet we still see the kind of behavior demonstrated by former University of Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague plus the explanation/excuses given by his superiors. If Board of Regents Chairman Dean Johnson is truly serious about the U investigation ("U seeks Teague inquiry help," Aug. 12), then the only satisfactory outcome from my point of view is the immediate firing of any men who were aware of Teague's propensity for harassment and did nothing to report and stop it. This kind of despicable behavior will stop only when those who know about it and do nothing face employment termination and a shameful exit.

The women who have courageously come forward to expose Mr. Teague's actions should not have to stand alone. Others knew about Teague's behavior. It's time for the men to come forward, apologize for their silence and accept employment termination.

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I can easily visualize the critical editorial that the Star Tribune would write if any other prominent company buried its knowledge of sexual harassment. Why shouldn't you be held to the same standard?

For anyone who is opposing the recent nuclear agreement with Iran, it is not an agreement between the United States and Iran. The other countries that also agreed with it are France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China. It is a diplomatic agreement, with the alternative being another eventual war.

It is not intended to be contrary to Israel's preference. It actually is to that country's advantage. Israel has no allies in the Middle East. Israel is responsible for abuse of human rights and violation of international law with treatment of the Palestinians — actually since 1948. Not only is the U.S. condoning this abuse and oppression, we citizens are paying for it with more than $3 billion each year, plus military equipment and supplies.

We must face the facts. There are many Jewish people and organizations, both in Israel and in the U.S., who are defending and advocating for the Palestinians. But our Congress is more inclined to respond to the lobbying and monetary donations from AIPAC than in striving for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine.

We can be grateful that the negotiations for a nuclear agreement with Iran have been resolved diplomatically. Please advocate with our members in Congress to pass the resolution to accept the agreement as stated.