Large Fish Kill Decatur/ Rush counties!

[hammer24]

Hope they catch whoever caused this, and punish them appropriately!

https://local.nixle.com/alert/5668979/

For immediate release: June 25, 2016

Fish Kill in Little Flatrock River (Rush and Decatur Counties, IN)

Indiana Conservation Officers along with emergency personnel from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management are investigating a large fish kill within the Little Flatrock River just south of Milroy, IN

At approximately 7:30 p.m. yesterday evening, Indiana Conservation Officers were dispatched to the Little Flatrock River off of State Road 3 just south of Milroy, IN.

Conservation Officers and IDEM personnel worked throughout the night trying to locate a source that contaminated the waterway.

An unknown pollutant is thought to be the cause that has killed numerous species of fish, crayfish and other aquatic life within the Little Flatrock River waterway. This kill stretches 9.3 miles along the Little Flatrock River to the confluence of the Flatrock River.

This investigation is ongoing and Indiana Conservation Officers are requesting if anyone has information or knows of someone with information to contact the Indiana Conservation Officers Central Dispatch at 812-837-9536.

 

[halfmileharry]

Hanging is too good for the pukes that did this.
This is our Mother Earth space ship we live on and needs protected

 

[JimH]

More than likely agricultural runoff.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I wonder if Milroy Canning Co. is still in business. They process tomatoes in the late summer and into the fall, and they pump all their wastewater into large lagoons, where the waste breaks down over time and is discharged the following year. Those lagoons have some pretty strong stuff in them and if someone opened a valve at the wrong time, it would send the wastewater into Lick Creek and then into the Flatrock.

 

[dtkw]

So how big is this fish? And what kind of fish it was?

 

[indyjohn]

So how big is this fish? And what kind of fish it was?

Too soon.

 

[VERT]

More than likely agricultural runoff.

Runoff very unlikely as most agricultural products such as herbicide and fertilizer are not particularly toxic and don't move in soil in large quantity. Point source release of something most likely. Could be an agricultural insecticide though.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Runoff very unlikely as most agricultural products such as herbicide and fertilizer are not particularly toxic and don't move in soil in large quantity. Point source release of something most likely. Could be an agricultural insecticide though.

Runoff from agricultural fields does happen and many fish kills have been caused by it. When large amounts of manure are land applied in a way that allows run-off to enter a stream, bacteria immediately begin to "feed on" the waste and in that process, oxygen is used up. The fish can die, not from toxins, but by suffocation, which is the most common cause of fish kills.

 

[VERT]

Runoff from agricultural fields does happen and many fish kills have been caused by it. When large amounts of manure are land applied in a way that allows run-off to enter a stream, bacteria immediately begin to "feed on" the waste and in that process, oxygen is used up. The fish can die, not from toxins, but by suffocation, which is the most common cause of fish kills.

So point source release due to misapplication. Yes that is a possibility. But properly applied manure runoff would be highly unlikely on non-frozen ground. Plus most crops are in the ground so I am not sure where manure could be applied. Of course if somebody dumped illegally or a waste retention pond failed all bets are off. Land application and storage of manure has a fair amount of regulation.

Algal and aquatic plant growth is increased by movement of nitrogen and phosphorous into standing water such as ponds. When this algae or other plants die it can most definately use up oxygen and cause a fish kill. Not usually a problem in moving water like rivers but people are pretty sensitive to the potential for problems. Also confined feed operations and fertilizer in general is catching a lot of press right now. Lake Erie watershed and the Gulf of Mexico is having its share of algae blooms because that is where the water is flowing into.

Recent hot weather could be a contributing factor. Warm water holds less oxygen. But usually these types of events are not sudden and moving water tends to oxygenate.

For a sudden large scale fish kill to occur in a volume of moving water there would need to be more then just "runoff". I am sure IDEM will have no problems tracking down the culprit. Since crayfish are involved my first guess would be insecticide since they are sensitive to many of those products.

I only know what I read in the OP today. So I a just guessing. If I see him I will have to ask our risk coordinator if he knows anything.

 

[BogWalker]

I live in Rushville. There was a lot of heavy rains just before this, and many people were applying chemicals/fertilizers/manure at the time.

Apparently there is a reward being offered for information that leads to a conviction so I think they've probably ruled out general run off if that's the case.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I live in Rushville. There was a lot of heavy rains just before this, and many people were applying chemicals/fertilizers/manure at the time.

Apparently there is a reward being offered for information that leads to a conviction so I think they've probably ruled out general run off if that's the case.

Yeah, I saw that it had rained a lot right before it was reported. My guess would be agricultural run off, because of the rain, and because of the absence of industry's (other than Milroy Canning Co.) in that area.

And the CO's and IDEM Emergency Response people aren't very well equipped to sample for chemicals. The IDEM guys usually have meters with probes for pH and Dissolved Oxygen, along with a test kit for Ammonia-Nitrogen that gives only a ball-park number. They should be able to tell fairly quick if it's a sewage or manure spill, if the Ammonia-Nitrogen levels are high, but they don't usually do any sampling for bacteria or other constituents in the early hours of a fish kill, since they're mostly doing leg-work trying to trace the stream to a possible source. By the time they are set up to do a more comprehensive sampling, contaminants can be washed miles downstream.

 

[VERT]

Thread revival. Heard on the radio this morning that fish kill was confirmed and related to manure. In a nutshell illegal dumping. Report that 25k-30k gallons was pumped into the river. Would also appear that some of the facilities did not meet specification. So as I suspected point source contaminate and somebody not following the rules. This is unfortunate not only because of the environmental implications but also because agricultural is coming under increasing scrutiny. CAFOs, manure, fertilizer and especially pesticide application has quite a bit of regulation and it makes the good operators look bad because somebody doesn't do what they are supposed to do.