Sioux County Farmers Allow Manure To Overflow For Days

A manure leak in a Sioux County dairy was allowed to continue after workers chose to ignore it.

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Workers on Friday did nothing when seeing manure flow into a storm drain. According to an article in The Capital Dispatch, they were unaware that it would flow into a nearby creek.

According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, they are unaware of how much manure leaked or made it to the nearby stream. The Department says that they found manure had moved roughly five miles downstream from the dairy barn.

The leak comes from Black Soil Dairy, which is milking 4,500 head of dairy cattle. According to The Capital Dispatch, the manure leaked from Friday until Monday when the owner noticed it and stopped it.

The leak happened because of a clog in the flush system the farm uses to clean out its barns. A flush system works by using a stream of water to wash manure from barn floors.

The clog was partly caused by sand used for bedding getting caught in the system.

When there are big leaks like that there is always that worry of how it will impact nearby lakes and rivers.

In this case, it did result in a fish kill.

The DNR said that on Tuesday they found stressed fish, dead chubs, and minnows in Deep Creek- despite there being some ice-covered parts.

The DNR will monitor the clean and check the stream to consider appropriate enforcement action. An environmental specialist with the DNR said it’s possible the farm’s owner will attempt to pump the contaminated water from the creek.