(Emmetsburg)– Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say a fish kill northeast of Emmetsburg is related to a hog manure release.
Upon investigating a report phoned in Monday to the DNR’s regional office in Spencer, officials found a small number of dead chubs, minnows and crawfish in a tributary of Cylinder Creek.
An investigation traced the fish kill to a hog manure release which reached the stream through a tile line.
DNR officials say Jon Ehmen, the farm operator, had been pumping manure from a storage pit onto the ground periodically for a month to create more storage.
Ehmen told DNR investigators he didn’t know there was a tile line nearby that could send the manure into the creek. His brother, Paul Ehmen, owns the farm.
DNR officials say they may consider possible enforcement action against Ehmen.
