The owner of a hog and cattle operation in northeast Iowa could face fines and be forced to pick up the tab of an expensive fish kill.

Officers with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say more than 104,000 fish were killed in a manure spill that reached Whitewater Creek in Dubuque County.

The value of the fish – including minnows, dace, bluegill and smallmouth bass – is estimated at $96,000. Most of the fish were likely killed along a five mile stretch, but some were found nearly 18 miles downstream. The fish kill was traced back to an operation near Peosta owned by Wayne Demmer.

The D.N.R. reports manure from livestock feedlots was pumped to a reception pit that overflowed in heavy rains, and the manure reached the creek on June 18.