A Thursday afternoon manure spill in northwest Iowa is causing what state officials call an “ongoing” fish kill.
It happened in O’Brien County, about five miles northeast of Sutherland, on Doug Streit’s farm. State officials say Streit was pumping hog manure out of one tank into another. He stepped away and a hose broke loose, spilling an estimated 5,000 gallons of manure into Barry Creek. The creek had too much flowing water to dam up and state officials say the fish kill will continue moving downstream.
Streit did stop some manure that hadn’t reached the creek by constructing a dam. State officials say he responded quickly and did the right think in notifying the Department of Natural Resources, but officials also say this is another example of why producers “should never leave equipment unattended.”
DNR staff is monitoring the site and the creek and they will conduct a count of dead fish. Once all that’s over, state officials says Streit may face fines.