Pocahontas fish kill total over 100-thousand

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has completed the inventory of fish killed in northern Iowa near Pocahontas this past weekend. D-N-R spokesman Kevin Baskins.He says they estimated that over 104-thousand fish were killed in eight miles of Lizard Creek, with a large majority of the dead fish being minnows. They also recorded dead smallmouth bass, northern pike, sunfish, bullheads, stonecat, suckers and carp during investigation of the kill. Baskins says the kill has been attributed to a release of water from the Pocahontas wastewater treatment plant. Baskins says workers at the plant had tried to treat the water and release it to make repairs at the facility. He says in treating the water the bacteria that normally breaks down sewage became inactive and the water that came out of the plant had very little treatment and very high ammonia levels — making it toxic to the fish. Baskins says the D-N-R will seek payment from the City of Pocahontus for the dead fish. The fish killed were valued at 15-thousand-751 dollars and there was also around 11-hundred dollars in expenses to investigate the kill. Baskins says the D-N-R will also likely seek a penalty against the city for the kill.