(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Fort Dodge spill into Lizard Creek resulted in nearly 72,000 dead fish • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-04-29
A fish kill report from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources shows 71,933 fish were killed following a spill of a supplement byproduct, used as fertilizer, into a creek near Fort Dodge.
The spill, which occurred April 14, killed fish for a stretch of more than 15 miles down South Branch Lizard Creek and into Lizard Creek.
The byproduct was high in ammonia and very corrosive, according to DNR staff who responded to the incident and observed murky, brown water conditions flowing all the way into the Des Moines River.
The majority of dead fish, 62,620, were observed in South Branch Lizard Creek, where the spill from CJ Bio America occurred. The company noticed the byproduct from manufacturing lysine had leaked into a stormwater drain, which staff blocked with a berm that they later realized had developed a breach. According to DNR, this allowed an unknown amount of the byproduct to flow to the surface intake of a neighboring field and into the creek.
DNR valued the fish killed from the incident at $73,819. Most of the dead fish were small minnows, shiners, dace and chub, but other varieties included nearly 5,000 suckers, more than 2,000 rock and smallmouth bass and 37 northern pike.
CJ Bio America did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the issue.
DNR investigating wastewater spills in Boyer and South Skunk Rivers
DNR is investigating two recent wastewater spills, one from a meat processing facility near Denison into Boyer River and another from a wastewater treatment plant into the South Skunk River.
A valve malfunction at Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp. in Denison led to an estimated 500-gallon spill of wastewater into the Boyer River. DNR staff were notified Sunday morning of the release, which was quickly stopped by Smithfield staff who closed the stormwater drain where the water was flowing.
John Baker, environmental specialist with the DNR field office in Atlantic, said most of the wastewater was contained to the stormwater system, which is being cleaned.
Baker said no dead fish have been observed in the Boyer River.
In Story City, an estimated 1.5 million gallons of partially treated wastewater was released into South Skunk River over the weekend due to unusually high flows to a wastewater treatment plant.
According to a press release from DNR, the wastewater was treated using an ultraviolet disinfection process before it was diverted into the river. High flows at the plant were caused by heavy rain over the past week.
The plant began discharging the water around 2 p.m. on Saturday and ended Sunday around 4 p.m.
No dead fish have been observed in the river as a result of the event.
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