SIGOURNEY – DNR received several reports of a manure spill about 11 miles north of Sigourney on Dec. 5.
One of the reports came from Brandon Dietrich of Dietrich Hauling who said a hitch snapped about 2:30 p.m., causing a tractor and manure tanker to go into the ditch on the north side of 110th St., just west of 190th Avenue. No one was hurt, but an estimated 500 to 600 gallons of manure spilled, running into a tributary of the English River.
Dietrich pumped out the tanker, dammed the tributary downstream and pumped contaminated water out of the tributary. On Sunday, Dietrich built up the dam, continued pumping and scraped solids out of the ditch to prevent further water contamination.
DNR staff took water samples, finding elevated ammonia levels along about 750 feet of the tributary. There was no indication the spill reached the English River. And, staff did not find dead fish in the tributary or river.
DNR will continue to monitor the cleanup and consider appropriate enforcement action.