By JARED STRONG <a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2022/09/15/dairy-farm-fined-for-200000-gallon-manure-discharge-into-creek/">Iowa Capital Dispatch</a>

The owner of a northwest Iowa 
dairy farm was ordered to pay the state more than $36,000 for a massive 
manure release last year that killed nearly 100,000 small fish in a 
nearby creek, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The manure discharge happened in April 2021 when a worker at Rock 
Bottom Dairy, near Lester, neglected one night to shut off an irrigator 
that spreads manure onto a nearby field.

An overrun of about 200,000 gallons of manure into Mud Creek and its 
tributary was discovered early the next morning. Signs of contamination 
stretched 13 miles downstream, with elevated concentrations of E. coli 
bacteria and ammonia, the DNR reported.

The dairy has about 3,800 cattle, and the DNR has documented four other manure releases there in the past two decades.

One of them, in 2009, similarly polluted the waterways with about 
100,000 gallons of manure and killed about 1,400 fish. That spill was 
caused by a clamp that came loose from a hose that was used to transfer 
manure from one location to another on the site, DNR records show. The 
dairy was fined $6,000.

The causes of the spills were different in each case, said Scott Wilson, supervisor of the DNR field office in that area.

“This is unfortunate,” Wilson said of the most-recent spill. “It was 
clearly a mistake, and we expect them to come up with procedures, some 
sort of remedy that would prevent this from happening in the future.”

The dairy’s owner Bernard Bakker agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for the
 most-recent spill — the maximum administrative penalty the DNR can 
levy. He must also pay restitution to the state for the estimated 96,168
 fish that were killed along with the costs for the DNR investigation 
into the fish kill. That totaled about $26,100.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/9/1663276576445.png" alt="A manure spill in April 2021 in northwest Iowa near the Minnesota border killed nearly 100,000 small fish. (Photo courtesy of Iowa DNR)" />
 <figcaption>A manure spill in April 2021 in northwest Iowa near the Minnesota border killed nearly 100,000 small fish. (Photo courtesy of Iowa DNR)</figcaption>
 </figure>By JARED STRONG <a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2022/09/15/dairy-farm-fined-for-200000-gallon-manure-discharge-into-creek/">Iowa Capital Dispatch</a>The owner of a northwest Iowa 
dairy farm was ordered to pay the state more than $36,000 for a massive 
manure release last year that killed nearly 100,000 small fish in a 
nearby creek, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.The manure discharge happened in April 2021 when a worker at Rock 
Bottom Dairy, near Lester, neglected one night to shut off an irrigator 
that spreads manure onto a nearby field.An overrun of about 200,000 gallons of manure into Mud Creek and its 
tributary was discovered early the next morning. Signs of contamination 
stretched 13 miles downstream, with elevated concentrations of E. coli 
bacteria and ammonia, the DNR reported.The dairy has about 3,800 cattle, and the DNR has documented four other manure releases there in the past two decades.One of them, in 2009, similarly polluted the waterways with about 
100,000 gallons of manure and killed about 1,400 fish. That spill was 
caused by a clamp that came loose from a hose that was used to transfer 
manure from one location to another on the site, DNR records show. The 
dairy was fined $6,000.The causes of the spills were different in each case, said Scott Wilson, supervisor of the DNR field office in that area.“This is unfortunate,” Wilson said of the most-recent spill. “It was 
clearly a mistake, and we expect them to come up with procedures, some 
sort of remedy that would prevent this from happening in the future.”The dairy’s owner Bernard Bakker agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for the
 most-recent spill — the maximum administrative penalty the DNR can 
levy. He must also pay restitution to the state for the estimated 96,168
 fish that were killed along with the costs for the DNR investigation 
into the fish kill. That totaled about $26,100.

Misc