State investigates manure spill in in NE Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State environmental officials say a hog farmer left a valve open on a manure transfer pump, causing thousands of gallons of manure to spill and flow toward a creek in northeast Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the spill happened about 2 miles east of Petersburg in Delaware County on Tuesday. Officials say the producer, Dan Goedken, of rural New Vienna, left the valve open about 8 a.m.

The DNR says when he discovered the mistake, he shut off the valve, built a retention dike to minimize the flow to a nearby creek and contacted the agency.

Officials estimate 2,000 to 5,000 gallons of liquid manure spilled by the time the valve was closed and an unknown amount reached the creek causing a fish kill.