Mahaska County business faces clean up of spill

State officials now say a Mahaska County business -is- responsible for a waste oil spill on Monday which seeped onto a country club near Oskaloosa. Dennis Applehonz of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the oil came from a four-thousand gallon tanker truck parked at Carter Manufacturing. He says the waste oil is used in a burner inside the facility. The waste oil got into an underground tile and then seeped into a pond at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club south of Oskaloosa. Applehonz says the spill has been contained to the two ponds on the course and a small creek. He says two valves on the truck were left in the open position and the spill is being treated as suspicious. He says there was no evidence of tank failure that could’ve led to the leak.Carter Manufacturing is owned by Jimmy Carter, an Oskaloosa City Council member. He says the spill was caused by a frozen water trap on the tanker truck. When the weather warmed up, Carter says about three hundred gallons of oil seeped out. Some soil at the golf course had to be excavated and replaced. Applehonz says Carter will be responsible for all costs, which could range from 20-thousand to several hundred thousand dollars.Carter Manufacturing makes conveyor belts. Carter expects to complete the clean up by next week. He says the company’s been in that location for 41 years, and this is the first time there’s been a spill.