Judge fines Branstad brother for manure discharge

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa attorney general's office says the brother of Gov. Terry Branstad has been fined $10,000 for discharging manure into a tributary of the Winnebago River.

A Hancock County judge issued the fine Tuesday to Monroe Branstad, a Forest City cattle producer.

Monroe Branstad has an operation with less than 1,000 head of cattle in open feedlots and 500 in confinement buildings. State environmental officials received a complaint in 2010 that about 900,000 gallons of manure was applied to a field. That manure flowed across the field and eventually into the tributary.

No fish alive or dead were found.

The attorney general's office notes Monroe Branstad paid a $10,205 civil penalty for illegally discharging corn silage in 2008.

A spokesman says Gov. Branstad won't comment on the matter.