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WI DNR assisting with manure spill on reservation


September 13, 2018  by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Green Bay, WI – State, county and Oneida Nation staff are responding to a large manure spill causing a fish kill in Silver Creek on the Oneida reservation about four miles west of Ashwaubenon.

The spill occurred on a dairy farm located west of the Outagamie-Brown county line. It was reported at 1 p.m. Sept. 10 but likely started the night before. Before the source of the spill was stopped, an estimated 300,000 gallons of manure were released into a grassy waterway and into Silver Creek, a tributary of Duck Creek. The manure flowed east and most of it is in Brown County.

Cleanup efforts started after the initial report and are continuing. The farm is not a CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation). Oneida Nation staff is monitoring water quality with assistance from the state Department of Natural Resources. Oneida Nation staff asked DNR to assist with managing the cleanup.

Dead minnow species and bluegills have been seen at multiple road crossings on Silver Creek as it flows north towards its confluence with Duck Creek, about three miles northeast of the farm. The manure plume has reached Duck Creek, field staff confirmed.

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Oneida Nation staff has been collecting water quality samples at several locations. DNR staff has collected bacteria samples at several locations, including the first downstream road crossing on Duck Creek. The farm contacted a sewage pumper and manure is being pumped from Silver Creek.

The farm reported the spill occurred when a valve holding manure in under-barn storage failed and released most of the contents into the farm’s main manure storage structure. That structure, already nearly full, overtopped and released manure onto a grassy waterway.

A crew from Outagamie County responded immediately after the report and excavated a sump-collection hole in the grassy waterway leading from the farm to Silver Creek. DNR staff also responded quickly and began coordinating cleanup efforts with Oneida Nation officials.

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