Fish Kill Event - Hecker Creek
Postville
- Event ID
- 1084
- Date of Kill
- 10/7/2026
- Waterbody Type
- River/Stream
- Cause Origin
- Anthropogenic
- Cause
- Ammonia/Fertilizer
- Mode
- Runoff
- Magnitude
- 5 (10,001 - 25,000 fish killed)
- Estimated Fish Killed
- 24,860
- Kill Length
- 4.50 miles
- Valuation
- $3,682.19
- Investigation Expenses
- $3,519.51
- County
- Allamakee
- ESD Field Office
- FO 1
- Fisheries Office
- Decorah State Hatchery
- LongDD
- -91.57900
- LatDD
- 43.09450
- Created Date
- 10/7/2026 2:17:14 PM
- Last Update
- 10/7/2026 2:17:52 PM
Impacted Assessment Segments
Highlighted river segments indicate those impacted in part or whole by this fish kill event. It is not meant to represent the actual extent of the kill.
Onsite Comments
Location: The fish kill originated from an outflow at AgriStar Meat & Poultry, LLC. Dead fish were observed along 7,949 yards of Hecker Creek beginning at its source at the plant (43.0945, -91.5790) and ending at its mouth (43.1381, -91.5676).
Cause of Kill: Discharge of contaminated firefighting runoff carrying high levels of ammonia from the AgriStar facility through an outflow into Hecker Creek.