A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it looks like a manure spill in Washington County will have minimal impact on wildlife. DNR environmental specialist Terry Jones says the spill of around 10-thousand gallons of manure southeast of Kalona was caused by a mechanical malfunction. A valve stuck open on a tractor that pumps the manure into a spreader, causing the release. Jones says producer Rob Brenneman of Brenneman Pork acted quickly and built four makeshift dams to contain the spilled manure. However a significant amount of manure entered two nearby tile lines and flowed underground approximately one-fourth of a mile to the unnamed tributary of Camp Creek. Jones says reviews of the creek show no signs of dead fish or other animals.He says it appears the stream was small enough that the manure didn’t have any real impact. Jones says the DNR worked with Brenneman to get the standing pools of manure properly cleaned up.
