CRESCO – Approximately 2,000 gallons of sewage sludge was released to an unnamed tributary to Silver Creek from a storage tank at the Cresco wastewater treatment plant yesterday in Howard County when a transfer valve broke. The Cresco wastewater treatment plant is northeast of Cresco.
The wastewater treatment plant operator was able to stop the transfer and contain the rest of the sludge within the plant.
The stream was moving fast and no sludge was visible when the DNR investigated the release. No fish were killed.
People, pets and livestock should stay away from the area between the Cresco Waste Water Treatment Plant and Silver Creek for another 24 hours.
The DNR will continue to monitor the situation.