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Manure spill investigated in Plymouth County, IA

July 2, 2015, Merrill, IA – A manure spill at a dairy about four miles east of Merrill is being investigated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Shortly after 7 a.m., it was discovered that manure being pumped was flowing around a settling basin rather than into it. It is believed that an early morning electrical outage may have caused the line to plug. An unknown amount of manure flowed across a cornfield into a small, unnamed tributary of Plymouth Creek. The operator constructed three dams to the tributary to stop the flow of any manure from going further downstream.

The tributary is very shallow and it is not believed that a fish kill occurred as a result of the spill

The DNR is continuing to investigate the incident as well as providing guidance on the cleanup effort.