OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – Cleanup work is expected to continue for several days following a Monday morning discovery that manure spilled into a 1 1/2 mile stretch of Dutchman Creek near Freedom.
The DNR says the spill, which came from Neighborhood Dairy, killed a high percentage of the fish in that section of the creek.
DNR officials believe the spill resulted from a valve malfunction that caused manure from a full pit to run out of the farm’s runoff collection system, where it flowed through a grassy swale and into the creek.
The manure reportedly flowed northeast, under Section Line and Vans roads, before being stopped by a berm north of Vans Road.
Much of the affected area is in the Oneida Indian Reservation.
The DNR says farm workers responded quickly once the spill was discovered and note the farm has a good record of compliance.
Farm managers told the DNR they estimate 20,000 gallons of manure spilled.
While DNR groundwater specialists are monitoring the situation, they say thick clay soil may have kept groundwater from being affected.
The DNR says Neighborhood Dairy operates as a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, or CAFO, and most recently reported milking 950 cows on the land.
