DES MOINES – A Northern Iowa dairy has been punished by the State of Iowa for applying so much manure to a field that it ran into a waterway and killed over 100,000 fish.
On July 17, 2024, as NIT reported, the DNR Field Office in Spencer, Iowa, was notified of dead fish in Mud Creek, south of Paullina, Iowa. Further investigation revealed Roorda Dairy, LLC of Paullina was land applying manure in a field, which entered a blown out tile that discharges to Mud Creek. The amount of manure released was not known at the time, but dead fish were observed for several miles in the creek. Later, the DNR said 107,373 fish were killed.
As result of this incident, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued a consent order requiring Roorda Dairy, LLC, to submit for approval a written Standard Operating Procedures for land application methods, equipment inspections, employee training, manure irrigation methods, and notification of releases; immediately implement the procedure upon approval; pay $30,791.07 in fish restitution; and pay a $8,000 administrative penalty.