I imagine Brenna will give them the Bird:
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources wants the Iowa Attorney General’s Office to pursue enforcement action against a southwest Iowa cooperative that caused a fertilizer spill that killed about 750,000 fish on the East Nishnabotna River in March.
“Due to the gravity of this harm” the DNR is asking the Environmental Protection Commission at its meeting next week to refer the case to the AG, which can impose higher penalties.
Around March 9, someone at the NEW Cooperative in Red Oak left open a hose valve that leaked about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer into a drainage ditch that went to the East Nishnabotna River. An employee noticed the spill March 11 and alerted the Iowa DNR.
“The fertilizer spill near Red Oak in Montgomery County earlier this month killed nearly all the fish in an almost 50-mile stretch of the East Nishnabotna River to the Missouri border,” the department reported March 28.
At lower levels, nitrogen fertilizer can deplete water of oxygen, killing wildlife.
“However, this was such a large amount of chemical, it more than likely killed the fish from acute toxicity … killing cells at the gills,” John Lorenzen, an Iowa DNR fisheries biologist, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch. He also saw dead frogs, snakes, mussels and earthworms. “I’ve never dealt with a situation like this before.”
The DNR can pursue civil penalties of up to $10,000, but the Iowa Attorney General can pursue penalties of up to $5,000 per day, per violation, for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit holders.
The NEW Co. is a member-owned cooperative based in Fort Dodge with 80 locations in Iowa and Missouri.
It’s rare for the DNR to ask the AG’s office to step in on enforcement. And the Environmental Protection Commission, a nine-person, governor-appointed board that oversees environmental polices, doesn’t always follow recommendations from DNR staff.
In 2018, DNR asked the commission to refer to the AG’s office enforcement action against Walz Energy, which was building a cattle feedlot near Monona. That project, now called Supreme Beef, had multiple permit violations for stormwater discharge in the watershed of Bloody Run, a prized trout stream.
The discharge is significant because sediment released into trout habitat can fill in streambottom niches where fish lay their eggs, the DNR explained in 2018.
The EPC dismissed the recommendation.
Last month, 63 Iowans from 18 counties signed a letter to the DNR asking for a formal investigation of the “unprecedented” fertilizer spill and for the agency to refer the case to the AG.
“The devastation of life in over 50 miles of the river, including the death of 750,000 fish as reported by your dedicated staff, is difficult to even comprehend,” wrote Neil Hamilton, a Drake University emeritus professor of agricultural law, in the letter dated April 29.
The commission will hear the DNR’s request about the NEW Co. referral at a meeting May 22 at the Bridge View Conference Center in Ottumwa. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. To view the meeting online go to: https://meet.google.com/rzo-uidn-tvg
The DNR’s request seeking AG action against New Co. includes a timeline of what happened in the March fertilizer spill.
www.thegazette.com
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources wants the Iowa Attorney General’s Office to pursue enforcement action against a southwest Iowa cooperative that caused a fertilizer spill that killed about 750,000 fish on the East Nishnabotna River in March.
“Due to the gravity of this harm” the DNR is asking the Environmental Protection Commission at its meeting next week to refer the case to the AG, which can impose higher penalties.
Around March 9, someone at the NEW Cooperative in Red Oak left open a hose valve that leaked about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer into a drainage ditch that went to the East Nishnabotna River. An employee noticed the spill March 11 and alerted the Iowa DNR.
“The fertilizer spill near Red Oak in Montgomery County earlier this month killed nearly all the fish in an almost 50-mile stretch of the East Nishnabotna River to the Missouri border,” the department reported March 28.
At lower levels, nitrogen fertilizer can deplete water of oxygen, killing wildlife.
“However, this was such a large amount of chemical, it more than likely killed the fish from acute toxicity … killing cells at the gills,” John Lorenzen, an Iowa DNR fisheries biologist, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch. He also saw dead frogs, snakes, mussels and earthworms. “I’ve never dealt with a situation like this before.”
The DNR can pursue civil penalties of up to $10,000, but the Iowa Attorney General can pursue penalties of up to $5,000 per day, per violation, for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit holders.
The NEW Co. is a member-owned cooperative based in Fort Dodge with 80 locations in Iowa and Missouri.
It’s rare for the DNR to ask the AG’s office to step in on enforcement. And the Environmental Protection Commission, a nine-person, governor-appointed board that oversees environmental polices, doesn’t always follow recommendations from DNR staff.
In 2018, DNR asked the commission to refer to the AG’s office enforcement action against Walz Energy, which was building a cattle feedlot near Monona. That project, now called Supreme Beef, had multiple permit violations for stormwater discharge in the watershed of Bloody Run, a prized trout stream.
The discharge is significant because sediment released into trout habitat can fill in streambottom niches where fish lay their eggs, the DNR explained in 2018.
The EPC dismissed the recommendation.
Last month, 63 Iowans from 18 counties signed a letter to the DNR asking for a formal investigation of the “unprecedented” fertilizer spill and for the agency to refer the case to the AG.
“The devastation of life in over 50 miles of the river, including the death of 750,000 fish as reported by your dedicated staff, is difficult to even comprehend,” wrote Neil Hamilton, a Drake University emeritus professor of agricultural law, in the letter dated April 29.
The commission will hear the DNR’s request about the NEW Co. referral at a meeting May 22 at the Bridge View Conference Center in Ottumwa. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. To view the meeting online go to: https://meet.google.com/rzo-uidn-tvg
Timeline of fertilizer spill investigation
The DNR’s request seeking AG action against New Co. includes a timeline of what happened in the March fertilizer spill.
- March 8: A NEW Co. worker accidentally leaves a valve on a hose open and nitrogen-based fertilizer starts flowing into a stormwater ditch and into the nearby East Nishnabotna River.
- March 11: Workers who arrive at 5:30 a.m. Monday discover the spill. Senior Safety Coordinator Marty Cameron reports to the DNR the release of 265,000 gallons of nitrogen-based fertilizer over the weekend. DNR shuts a levee floodgate to contain the spill. Cleanup begins.
- March 25: Red Oak Police Chief Justin Rhamy orders the levee’s floodgate to be reopened after the area gets about 1 inch to 1.5 inches of rain. Reopening the floodgate causes “the berm that was blocking the flow of the stormwater ditch and the East Nishnabotna River to fail.”
- March 27: DNR Fisheries staff report an estimated 750,000 fish were killed on all 49.8 miles of the East Nishnabotna River. The spill continued into Missouri, where the Nish ends at the Missouri River.
- April 11: DNR sends investigative report and notice of violation letter to NEW Co.
- April 16: More than a month after the spill, lab tests still show increased concentrations of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite in the stormwater ditch and the area between the berm blocking the river.
- April 26: Before a storm, DNR and local emergency managers agree to pump the water around the contaminated ditch to protect the river from further contamination. Because cleanup of contaminated soil is ongoing, regulators decide NEW Co. will be required to pump water out of the area and hold it in on-site tanks.
DNR wants AG to seek penalties against co-op that caused massive fertilizer spill
It’s rare for the DNR to ask the AG’s office to step in on enforcement. And the Environmental Protection Commission, a nine-person, governor-appointed board that oversees environmental polices at the DNR, doesn’t always follow staff recommendations.
www.thegazette.com
