Fish Kill Event - Coal Creek

On Monday night I received a page to call Jim Schultz of Gibson. He reported seeing some dead fish in Coal Creek (Keokuk County). He said the creek had an odor and was discolored. Monday night Kurt Levetsow of this office tried to located the area Mr. Schultz described. The address given to me didn't pan out, but Kurt did find a spot on the creek that held some dead minnows. On Tuesday morning I investigated the complaint. I located the spot where Kurt had noticed dead fish, it was a small pool on the upper reaches of Coal Creek. There was very little water running through this spot. I followed the creek from the north edge of What Cheer to its upper reaches and didn't observe any other dead fish. Ammonia levels a long the creek were over the limit of the Hach test kit. (3.0ppm Max.) The creek water had a brown tint but suspended solids content didn't appear excessive. Odor wasn't particularly noticeable. I did locate a large beef lot that appeared to be a source of the ammonia. Josh Sobaski and I inspected the site. Manure management appeared to be in line with the rules. We did locate a couple of tile lines that tested above 3ppm. A well that is used to water the cattle was tested and it too showed significant ammonia contamination. Seven samples were taken on the farm and along the creek . These were submitted for analysis. Further sampling will be conducted next week.

Flow rates very low in general area. Feedlots in watershed but unlikely to find any source of contamination. The facilities investigated have no evidence of runoff. Might be some septic systems discharging to the creek as well.