State finds dead fish in 50 miles of fertilizer-contaminated river

[THE_DEVIL]

State conservation officials found no living fish this week in the East Nishnabotna River south of Red Oak — the result of a massive fertilizer spill at a farmers cooperative.

The spill is the result of someone at NEW Cooperative leaving open a hose valve that leaked about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer

 

[gohawks50]

State conservation officials found no living fish this week in the East Nishnabotna River south of Red Oak — the result of a massive fertilizer spill at a farmers cooperative.

The spill is the result of someone at NEW Cooperative leaving open a hose valve that leaked about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer

The spill is 1 mile south and east of me. My well is probably a quarter to half of a mile from the East Nishnabotna. If I lived just a little farther south I'd probably not be able to drink my well water. NEW will be paying big bucks for their negligence.

 

[RollingBallofButcherKnives]

The spill is 1 mile south and east of me. My well is probably a quarter to half of a mile from the East Nishnabotna. If I lived just a little farther south I'd probably not be able to drink my well water. NEW will be paying big bucks for their negligence.

They should. How the f*ck does 265,000 gallons get spilled unnoticed?

 

[Jimmy McGill]

No offense to the above poster, but SW is garbage

 

[Moral]

 

[4ohs]

Saw this on reddit. Was waiting for a post here. I don’t know how anyone defends this.

It remains clear to me that industry reigns supreme in this country.

This.
The Ohio train wreck last year.

Companies continue to hold zero accountability for their actions. Their consequences. No matter how many lives lost. How much cancer they cause. Nothing.

If a company is a person, then why are they not accountable for the lives lost from their decisions?

 

[ClarindaA's]

No offense to the above poster, but SW is garbage

We can’t help that we were born and rooted here. At this age, it’s harder to move, our property here isn’t worth what equivalent propert is near Iowa city.

 

[The Tradition]

Saw this on reddit. Was waiting for a post here. I don’t know how anyone defends this.

It remains clear to me that industry reigns supreme in this country.

This.
The Ohio train wreck last year.

Companies continue to hold zero accountability for their actions. Their consequences. No matter how many lives lost. How much cancer they cause. Nothing.

If a company is a person, then why are they not accountable for the lives lost from their decisions?

You don't think they'll be held accountable?

 

[gohawks50]

No offense to the above poster, but SW is garbage

It's definitely MAGA country, but I love the family farm that I grew up on. My parents and sibling are gone now so l'm the sole steward left to care for the land they worked for all their lives. I could sell it, but the land means more to me than money.

 

[4ohs]

You don't think they'll be held accountable?

What’s your definition of accountable?

Should a company be allowed to exist after it’s been proven that it irreparably damaged a relied upon ecosystem knowingly?

If you say yes, then I disagree.

I’ve seen little but slaps on the wrist for many of them.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

We can’t help that we were born and rooted here. At this age, it’s harder to move, our property here isn’t worth what equivalent propert is near Iowa city.

I understand. Just try to make your neighbors better

 

[B1GDeal]

You don't think they'll be held accountable?

They rarely are and not to the extent that they should be. What do you think will happen? A fine?

Example here in Iowa: C6 In Marengo didn’t clean up mess, didn’t pay fine, city asked state for cleanup assistance $, etc. Same company had history of issues in other states. They don’t care… just make money and who cares what happens. What’s being done? Another fine?

 

[Jimmy McGill]

It's definitely MAGA country, but I love the family farm that I grew up on. My parents and sibling are gone now so l'm the sole steward left to care for the land they worked for all their lives. I could sell it, but the land means more to me than money.

Good for you

I really wasn't meaning to insult the entire people of SW Iowa, but I worked down there one summer for the DOT.

 

[St. Louis Hawk]

Maybe Iowa can turn this into a new state park?

 

[THE_DEVIL]

You don't think they'll be held accountable?

Who is going to do it?
Kimmy?
Her handpicked AG?
Nope. Not going to happen

 

[THE_DEVIL]

As bad as this is it is not even in the universe as dumping 2 million tires off the coast of Florida back in the day to make a new coral reef.

In the 1970s, a group of fishermen organized a campaign to dump 2 million used tires into the Atlantic Ocean, about a mile off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to create an artificial reef and promote sea life. The tires were bound together with steel clips and nylon straps, and the reef was deployed in a 36-acre area of sandy bottom at a depth of 65 to 70 feet, approximately 7,000 feet from the shoreline. However, tropical storms and hurricanes have moved many of the tires, causing damage to nearby coral reefs. As well, the ever-changing currents and storms out of the Caribbean Sea have prevented coral and fish from using most of the tires.
Fallout from Bad '70s Idea: Auto Tires in Ocean Reef

 

[St. Louis Hawk]

Who is going to do it?
Kimmy?
Her handpicked AG?
Nope. Not going to happen

Is Iowa DCI agent Brian Sanger available?

 

[Pinehawk]

The fines aren’t significant enough to change the behavior of these companies.
There was a similar situation recently where the company was fined 10k, which was reduced to 7k on appeal. And they had to pay around 11k in fish replacement costs.
So, less than a 20k penalty to destroy an ecosystem and potentially impact drinking water supplies.
Installing additional safeguards would cost more than 20k, so they don’t do it.

 

[The Tradition]

What’s your definition of accountable?

Should a company be allowed to exist after it’s been proven that it irreparably damaged a relied upon ecosystem knowingly?

If you say yes, then I disagree.

I’ve seen little but slaps on the wrist for many of them.

There are plenty of laws on the books that would allow the government to sue them into oblivion.

If that's not happening, don't blame the bad actors.

 

[SalAunese]

Who is going to do it?
Kimmy?
Her handpicked AG?
Nope. Not going to happen

The DNR led by her handpicked appointee is the one that is investigating it.

 

[Kelsers]

Who is going to do it?
Kimmy?
Her handpicked AG?
Nope. Not going to happen

There are policies in place to pay so much per fish killed, and/or property damage done.

 

[Kelsers]

The DNR led by her handpicked appointee is the one that is investigating it.

There's policies in place.

 

[hawkeye54545]

Here I am like a jackass using lures, worms and minnows to catch fish when fertilizer is the way to go.

 

[Pinehawk]

There's policies in place.

Which are weak, and not preventing situations like these.

 

[lucas80]

Saw this on reddit. Was waiting for a post here. I don’t know how anyone defends this.

@NorthernHawkeye will avoid this thread like the plague.

 

[lucas80]

By fertilizer did they mean pig s***?

 

[Pinehawk]

By fertilizer did they mean pig s***?

No, liquid fertilizer.

 

[SalAunese]

They should. How the f*ck does 265,000 gallons get spilled unnoticed?

Those valves should be checked daily and not only did the incident expose them to fines, but I would guess the loss of 1/2 million dollars worth of fertilizer will hurt too. People will be getting fired over this. I’m assuming this is a 32/0/0 spill and knowing how large cooperatives work, this incident isn’t a surprise. There’s a difference in the skill level and operational competency when it comes to family owned ag suppliers (Harlan Asmus) that specialize in precision ag vs large cooperatives such as Landus or New Cooperative. Always has been.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

@NorthernHawkeye will avoid this thread like the plague.

Why would I avoid this thread?

 

[lucas80]

No, liquid fertilizer.

I just did a satellite view, and was surprised to see it’s in town and adjacent to a Hy-Vee. Weird that nobody smelled or noticed anything.

 

[Pinehawk]

How a similar situation was recently handled:

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...for-spill-that-killed-50000-fish/71064892007/

 

[lucas80]

Why would I avoid this thread?

You avoid unpleasant threads and questions you don’t want to answer.

 

[SalAunese]

There's policies in place.

Sure is and each of those tanks likely had bladders encased inside them with containment dikes built around them. It appears that particular valve was not contained or had a leak detector due to its position within the setup. These valves all need to be checked daily, 7 days a week, especially during the busy season. Due diligence wasn’t performed in a timely fashion and I highly doubt proper process was followed.

 

[Kelsers]

Which are weak, and not preventing situations like these.

I was talking about enforcement not prevention.

 

[MitchLL]

That is one, giant fvck up by whomever didn't shut that tank valve.

 

[SansAgain]

That is one, giant fvck up by whomever didn't shut that tank valve.

 

[Thunderlips71]

What the Register failed to mention is this spill actually improved the water quality in that Godforsaken red hellscape.

 

[hawkeye54545]

What's ironic this happens in the state that is the home of the holy mecca of water in Ames.

 

[Tenacious E]

What’s your definition of accountable?

Should a company be allowed to exist after it’s been proven that it irreparably damaged a relied upon ecosystem knowingly?

If you say yes, then I disagree.

I’ve seen little but slaps on the wrist for many of them.

If the company ceases to exist, how could it attempt to make the injured parties whole, or pay fines to the government?

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

What the Register failed to mention is this spill actually improved the water quality in that Godforsaken red hellscape.

I bet you think they wouldn't have forgotten to close the valve if Iowa had a Democrat governor.