Manure spill likely to reach Iowa River

BLAIRSTOWN - A manure spill south of Blairstown that was thought to have been stopped broke through two containment dams early Friday, which a Department of Natural Resources environmentalist said means the polluted water will probably reach the Iowa River.

The estimated 100,000-gallon-spill happened at the Cedar Valley Farms, 2188 78th St., just outside Blairstown. The tributary of Coon Creek that was contaminated flows in both Benton and Iowa counties.

Sue Miller, an environmental specialist with the DNR, said two sand dams constructed by the dairy operation's owner were breached when a lot of rain fell in a short amount of time Friday morning.

“The berm that was here held all night long (Thursday), but they had a reported inch and a quarter of rain this morning (Friday) between 6 and 7, so the sand wasn't holding,” she said.

Miller said the landowner had dammed up the creek tributary, which is as wide as a drainage ditch, and was pumping the water that accumulated into a nearby field to keep it from going downstream. She said the plan was working until the rain fell.

The sites of the sand dams are too muddy to use now, she said, and DNR environmentalists are looking for alternative sites to try and contain the manure flow.

Specialists took samples of the water to measure the amount of ammonia. Field tests showed it exceeded 3 parts per million, which is the limit of the field equipment. With current temperatures, the DNR said, amounts exceeding 2 ppm are enough to kill any fish.

Farm owners Leon and Jonna Tellinghuisen wouldn't answer questions about the spill on Friday, on the advice of an attorney. They released a written statement explaining some of what happened.

The statement said a contractor was doing work on the farm when a manure transfer pipe was punctured. That puncture was patched, but later the patch failed, which led to the release of manure on Thursday.

“Cedar Valley Farms has been and is committed to operating the dairy in an environmentally safe manner,” the statement said.

Paul Sleeper, a DNR fishery biologist, said he will have to wait for the water to clear up more before he can tally up the number of fish killed. But he did visit the area where that creek tributary flows into the Iowa River near Marengo.

“We did go down there this (Friday) morning where it dumps into the Iowa River. At this time, we don't see any impact,” Sleeper said. “The Iowa River has a pretty good flow right now, so we don't anticipate any problems with that.”

The DNR can assess fines against landowners who kill fish by releasing pollution into a state waterway. Sleeper said fines range from 8 cents each for minnows to $25 apiece for large game fish like smallmouth bass. Sleeper expected most of the lost fish in the small stream to be minnows or non-game fish.

While the spill isn't expected to create a large problem in the Iowa River, the DNR is warning livestock owners downstream to keep livestock out of the creek and to consult a veterinarian as to when it would be safe to let livestock drink from the creek again.