HAMPTON – The DNR has identified the source of a fish kill reported July 15 along an estimated 1.5 miles of Maynes Creek three miles southwest of Hampton.
The DNR traced the fish kill to a discharge of egg washwater from The Good Eggs, a layer operation owned by Joe Scallon of Iowa Falls. DNR investigators found high levels of ammonia in the stream near the S41 county road west of Mallory Memorial County Park Friday, after searching for a pollutant source on Thursday.
The egg washwater reached the stream when a tank at the facility overflowed into an underground drain tile. The tile flowed into a ditch leading to the Maynes Creek tributary known as drainage ditch 6.
The fish killed were mostly minnows and shiners, but included some smallmouth bass.
The campground host at Mallory Park noticed a peculiar odor and a white milky substance in the drainage ditch on Wednesday.
The DNR is calculating the number of fish killed and will monitor the cleanup, taking appropriate enforcement action.
