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Manure applicators urged to slow down, be careful

November 1, 2010, Des
Moines, IA – Tipped manure tankers and a small spill near Webster City are,
unfortunately, signs of applicators hurrying to apply, pump or transfer manure
between harvest and snowfall.
November 1, 2010, Des
Moines, IA – Tipped manure tankers and a small spill near Webster City are,
unfortunately, signs of applicators hurrying to apply, pump or transfer manure
between harvest and snowfall.

“Most of these spills
could have been avoided by slowing down,” said Eric Wiklund, an environmental
specialist at the Mason City Department of Natural Resources (DNR) field office. “Almost half of 12 spills
reported to the DNR in the last three weeks occurred during transport, usually
because the driver was cutting a corner too sharp or going too fast and
overturned a tanker while turning into a field.

“If they’d just slowed
down a little, they could have saved some expensive equipment and prevented
manure from reaching a stream,” he said.

The latest spill occurred
during manure transfer when a pipeline between hog buildings and a lagoon used
to store manure developed a leak at the Arends Sow Site south of Webster City.
The manure flowed into a storm water retention basin; then a small amount of
manure leaked into a road ditch. It ran down an underground tile line and into
a small nearby stream that flows into the Boone River.

When the DNR reached the
site, the environmental specialist found Iowa Select had plugged the tile
intake and were pumping manure back into the lagoon from the road ditch.
Ammonia levels in the stream were already dropping and there were no signs of
dead or distressed fish. By the next day, contaminated soil had been removed
from the road ditch for later land application.

Although applicators have
six hours to report a spill, Lois Benson of the Spencer DNR field office
encourages manure applicators to report the spill as soon as possible.

“We hope they will call as
soon as the driver and equipment are in a safe spot,” she said. “The sooner
they can make the call, the more likely we can work together to minimize any
damage from the spill.”