DNR: Cascade cattle lot polluted Maquoketa tributary

A mismanaged manure basin at an open cattle feedlot east of Cascade leaked manure at an unspecified "very high rate" in June and contaminated a creek that flows to the North Fork Maquoketa River, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Feedlot owner Jonathan Loes recently agreed to pay a $4,650 fine and to develop a plan to keep manure from flowing away from the site, a DNR order said.

The feedlot has about 700 cattle and is about 40 miles northeast of Cedar Rapids.

At issue is a settling basin at the feedlot that is designed to capture manure-laden water runoff, allow the solid material to fall to the bottom, and release the water into a grassy area nearby.

Loes told the DNR he had long been dissatisfied with how the basin operated — it was constructed more than 20 years ago — and that he had modified it and periodically scraped manure from the feedlot directly into the basin. Typically, manure is periodically scraped out of such basins.

Rainfall in the area in early June resulted in an overflow from the basin of unquantified size that traveled under a roadway and over hundreds of feet of a grassy path that channels stormwater into the Maquoketa tributary, the order said. Tests of water in that tributary on June 5 showed elevated levels of ammonia.

There were no obvious environmental effects from the pollution, such as dead fish, said Brian Jergenson, a senior environmental specialist for the DNR who investigated the discharge.

The DNR's order regarding Loes was one of several the department recently published about manure and water quality violations.

Milkshake ingredient washed into Mason City storm sewer

A company that stores and distributes food ingredients in Mason City agreed to pay a $6,500 fine for polluting a waterway in February with an unspecified milkshake component.

It was the second time in three years that Martin-Brower Company employees had washed spilled milkshake material into a storm sewer that flows to a tributary of Cheslea Creek. In 2021, the company agreed to pay a $4,000 fine.

The DNR recently ordered the company to train its employees about how to clean spills and to hang a warning sign near the loading dock storm drains that says the drains flow to a waterway.

For the most recent spill, Martin-Brower hired a company to flush the storm drains and pump the discolored, contaminated water from the tributary.

Hog confinement fined for late manure management update

The DNR fined a swine confinement west of Fort Madison $3,000 for its monthslong delay in submitting a manure management plan update.

The update from C&M Hogs was due in April but wasn't filed until July, after the department had contacted someone at the facility several times about the delay. The DNR uses those plans to help ensure manure is not excessively applied to fields.

The confinement has about 4,900 swine in two buildings. It also was fined $6,700 in February for a manure pit overflow that polluted several miles of a creek. The overflow, in December, killed an undetermined number of small fish.

Mason City company fined for late manure management plan

The department fined a turkey confinement north of Mason City $3,000 for delayed submittals of its manure management plan updates, which have happened in each of the past five years.

Dalluge Turkey Farm has more than 55,000 turkeys in five confinement buildings. The DNR had warned the company in 2022 and 2023 that it might face fines if it continued to belatedly submit the updates.

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