Iowa dairy responsible for multiple fish kill incidents fined $38K for manure spill

An Eastern Iowa dairy has agreed to pay more than $38,000 in a consent order with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for a March 2025 manure spill that killed more than 126,000 fish.

The Winneshiek County dairy with about 330 head of dairy cattle has been cited for two previous fish kill incidents, where manure leaked from the operation into a tributary of Dry Run Creek.

DNR staff responded in March 2025 to calls of manure runoff into the unnamed tributary and of dead fish in the creek. Staff determined there were elevated levels of ammonia in several miles of the creek, along with dead or dying fish.

According to the department’s consent order, environmental specialists on site observed a tile outlet flowing with “discolored and foul-smelling water.” On the other side of the field from the tile, the staff member observed runoff from Dale Humpal’s dairy that was “cutting a channel” through the soil.

During a subsequent conversation with Humpal and an on-site investigation, DNR staff determined the spill was coming from the west side of the operation where snow melt and a broken waterline caused more water to accumulate.

Humpal requested the department look into the impact of runoff from other operations along the tributary.

DNR staff sampled tile lines along the tributary, upstream of where the stream had a presence of ammonia, but did not find the presence of ammonia in any additional tile lines.

The environmental specialist, Brett Meyers, determined “there were no other contributors” to the spill that led to a “substantial number” of dead fish.

The department’s fisheries bureau determined a total of 126,469 fish were killed in a 10.2 mile stretch of the creek. The majority of fish killed were minnows, shiners, chubs, and dace. The department valued the killed fish at $30,923 with investigative costs of $2,546.

Per the consent order, Humpal is set to pay the more than $33,000 for fish kill and investigative costs, plus a $5,000 administrative fee by September 2027.

In addition to the fine, Humpal must submit updated plans for the maintenance of his feedlots. He is also required to “rework and maintain” a grass waterway to prevent manure from entering the tile intake in the future.

Humpal was fined $8,000 in 2024 for a 2023 manure leak and in 2017, he was asked to pay more than $15,000 for the restitution of dead fish and a department fine after manure flowed off a hay field and killed about 35,000 fish.

This article was first published by Iowa Capital Dispatch.