ATLANTIC—Staff from the DNR’s Atlantic field office were in the field Wednesday checking for the sources of a spill in Fremont County and a manure spill that reached a tributary of East Tarkio Creek in Page County.
In Fremont County west of Hamburg, DNR staff investigated the report of a whitish liquid running into a ditch near Draper Bottoms Wildlife Management Area. Staff identified the liquid as an unknown amount of a wheat gluten and water mix land applied by Ben Shinn Trucking for Manildra Milling company.
DNR staff collected water samples for laboratory analysis, but have not found any dead fish. The investigation continues.
In Page County, staff responded to a Wednesday morning report of a manure spill that occurred the previous evening when a stuck pump valve caused manure to pool at the Lee Brooke confinement northwest of Clarinda. DNR staff found manure pooled at the site, and in roadside and drainage ditches that flow into an unnamed tributary of the East Tarkio Creek.
An estimated 7,000 gallons of manure was released during manure pumping by commercial manure applicator Jason Sickles. Sickles immediately limed the ditch and placed hay bales to keep manure from moving downstream. DNR is requiring him to build a temporary dam in the ditch and excavate soil to prevent more manure from reaching the stream. Staff found no dead fish, but the investigation is ongoing.
In both cases, the DNR will consider appropriate enforcement action.