Hunter
05/05/24
Over five dozen Iowans representing 18 of its counties have asked the state to formally investigate a fertilizer spill that killed 750,000 fish in the southwest part of the state.
The Gazette reports the letter, signed by 63 people, asks the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to pursue “penalties and civil actions.”
Around March 9, someone at the NEW Cooperative in Red Oak left open a hose valve that leaked about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer into a drainage ditch that went to the East Nishnabotna River. An employee noticed the spill March 11 and alerted the Iowa DNR. They reported a fish kill in an almost 50-mile stretch of the river, down to the Missouri border.
John Lorenzen, an Iowa DNR fisheries biologist, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch he also saw dead frogs, snakes, mussels and earthworms.
Department spokeswoman Tammie Krausman said they will make a decision on enforcement as early as the middle of the month. The Gazzete says the Iowa DNR can pursue civil penalties of up to $10,000, but the Iowa Attorney General can pursue penalties of up to $5,000 per day, per violation.