KDSN RADIO News
Iowa A.G. reaches settlement over 5th largest fish kill recorded in Iowa
Iowa’s attorney general has reached a settlement with a southwest Iowa business for a fertilizer spill that killed hundreds of thousands of fish.
The spill originated at NEW Cooperative in Red Oak when a valve on a fertilizer tank was left open during a weekend in early March of last year. Over 250,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen wound up in the East Nishnabotna River. Iowa officials estimate more than 750,000 fish were killed downstream. The Nishnabotna River drains into the Missouri River, and the Missouri Department of Conservation reported a near-total fish kill in the roughly 10-mile stretch in northwest Missouri.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced this afternoon that the coop has agreed to pay a $50,000 penalty and pay $50,000 to the Montgomery County Conservation Board for an environmental project. Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials have said it was the fifth-largest fish kill on record in Iowa.
