The Iowa DNR provided a news release on January 30, 2007, about a fish kill in the region.
High ammonia levels from a fertilizer spill in Dyersville continued to be recorded approximately 10-12 miles downstream on the North Fork of the Maquoketa River the following day.
DNR environmental specialists and fisheries biologists continued to investigate the incident that day. Above normal ammonia levels were still found south of Worthington, but had dissipated enough to no longer be toxic to fish.
Investigation of the number of fish killed was hampered by snow and ice as well as limited public access to the river.
The fish kill appears to have originated from Crop Production Services in Dyersville where a fiberglass container was being filled with liquid fertilizer that apparently leaked. The spill took place within an area of secondary containment which apparently leaked as well, allowing fertilizer to reach a storm sewer which flows less than a block away to the North Fork of the Maquoketa river.
High ammonia levels from a fertilizer spill in Dyersville continued to be recorded approximately 10-12 miles downstream on the North Fork of the Maquoketa River the following day.
DNR environmental specialists and fisheries biologists continued to investigate the incident that day. Above normal ammonia levels were still found south of Worthington, but had dissipated enough to no longer be toxic to fish.
Investigation of the number of fish killed was hampered by snow and ice as well as limited public access to the river.
The fish kill appears to have originated from Crop Production Services in Dyersville where a fiberglass container was being filled with liquid fertilizer that apparently leaked. The spill took place within an area of secondary containment which apparently leaked as well, allowing fertilizer to reach a storm sewer which flows less than a block away to the North Fork of the Maquoketa river.