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Massive amount of fertilizer spills into SW Iowa river
The spill resulted in a fish kill and warnings to towns downstream
By Jared Strong - Iowa Capital Dispatch
Mar. 14, 2024 1:49 pm, Updated: Mar. 15, 2024 7:54 am
An estimated 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer early this week leaked from a farmers cooperative in Red Oak, and most of it went into the East Nishnabotna River, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
An investigation into the extent of the environmental damage is pending, but the crop fertilizer killed fish and might have affected the river all the way to the Missouri border, which is about 40 miles downstream from the southwest Iowa town, said Wendy Wittrock, an Iowa DNR senior environmental specialist who investigated the incident.
Wittrock said it is likely the largest fertilizer spill she has investigated: “It is a lot of fertilizer.”
The spill was reported Monday morning by NEW Cooperative after one of its employees noticed the leak and stopped it.
The cause of the spill is under investigation, but the fertilizer leaked from a valve in an area where it is transferred from a very large tank into smaller tanks for distribution. The large tank — which holds about 500,000 gallons — is in a containment area that can prevent wider spills, but the transfer area does not have the same protection, Wittrock said. It’s unclear how long the valve was leaking.
“Upon discovery of the spill, management immediately initiated containment protocols as per our established safety procedures,” NEW Cooperative said in a statement Wednesday. “We promptly notified the appropriate local authorities and regulatory agencies and have been working diligently in close cooperation with them ever since.”
A spokesperson for the Fort Dodge-based cooperative declined to comment further. That amount of fertilizer is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The cooperative lies just east of the river on the north side of Red Oak. The fertilizer flowed into a drainage ditch and then into the river. Its effect on the river was exacerbated by low river flow, Wittrock said. Higher flows can help dilute the contamination.
The East Nishnabotna is flowing at just about 7 percent of normal at Red Oak, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The area upstream from it has severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
The Iowa DNR’s on-site investigation into the fish kill that has resulted from the spill was expected to conclude by midweek, said John Lorenzen, a fisheries biologist for the department. He declined to reveal its early findings but noted the large amount of fertilizer that went into the river.
“Obviously, that’s not good,” he said.
The Iowa DNR alerted towns downstream from Red Oak about the potential effect the spill might have on drinking water, although none of the towns draw water directly from the river. Several have relatively shallow wells near the river, according to state records.
Missouri state officials also are investigating the impacts the spill might have on the Nishnabotna River, which goes for about 10 miles in that state before joining the Missouri River.
Kansas City draws drinking water directly from the river, but the Missouri River is large and the city is more than 100 miles downstream.
“We think it’ll be fairly diluted by the time it gets down here,” said Karen Rouse, a regional director for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.