MASON CITY – Starting Monday, the DNR investigated two fish kills, one in Kossuth County on the East Fork of the Des Moines River and the other on the Boone River in Hamilton County.
The DNR staff is searching for the source of a pollutant that turned the East Fork of the Des Moines River green west of the town of Irvington. An angler reported the fish kill on Sunday. Staff found low oxygen levels and a chemical odor. They are still looking for the source of the pollutant.
In Hamilton County, DNR staff are looking for a contaminant that killed fish and aquatic organisms along a stretch of the Boone River southwest of Woolstock. A caller reported the fish kill Monday afternoon to the DNR, but had seen the dead fish on Friday. At least one mile of the river was affected.
The DNR will continue to look for the source of pollution on both fish kills. Staff did not detect ammonia at either site, making it less likely that manure was a cause of the fish kills.
Anyone with information about either fish kill, please contact the DNR Mason City field office at 641-424-4073.
In general, anyone seeing dead fish or a likely pollutant should call the DNR’s 24-hour spill line at 515-281-8694.
Just wondering if Monty farms in these areas…