Manure runoff from local farm kills fish in Indiana

CELINA - Manure runoff from a Fort Recovery-based livestock producer's field in Darke County reportedly caused the death of 100 to 200 fish in a Jay County, Indiana, pond, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District board members learned this week.

SWCD will issue a notice of violation to Dave Alig, whose headquarters with a slatted steer barn is located at 104 Stateline Road, Fort Recovery, ordering him to update his comprehensive nutrient-management plan, district technician Matt Heckler said.

Alig won't be penalized for the fish kill but indicated he would work with the Jay County property owner to replace the fish, Heckler added.

"(Indiana Department of Wildlife) will not issue a fine because the pond is considered private waters," he said. "(Ohio Department of Natural Resources) is not planning to issue a fine because the fish kill occurred in Indiana."

This is the first time in Heckler's career that SWCD officials have been dispatched across county and state lines to investigate such a complaint.

A complainant reportedly had contacted the IDW on Jan. 11 about a fish kill in an estimated 8-acre pond located in Jay County in the Wabash River Watershed. The fish kill was alleged to have been caused by runoff from a field in Ohio, according to Heckler.

"(The pond) is connected to a stream. There's stream water that comes in and then goes out," he said.

The complaint was relayed from IDW to ODNR to the SWCD.

SWCD officials made their way to a field in Darke County owned by Alig. Alig reportedly said he had surface applied steer manure on the soybean field on Dec. 11-12 on 29 to 30 acres at a rate of 4,500 gallons per acre, Heckler said.

"At the time of application the ground was frozen," Heckler's report reads. "A cover crop had been planted, but no growth was visible. The field was soybeans and has been long-term no till. He did follow some setback from roads and water course in the middle of the field."

Officials found dead largemouth bass, bluegill and carp, ranging in size from 4 inches to more than 20 inches at the frozen pond in Jay County, Heckler said.

"We are not sure the exact number of fish killed, but I would estimate between 100 to 200 fish," Heckler wrote in his report. "Some of the fish had been scavenged by wildlife."

Water samples were taken from several locations in the pond. Samples tested between 4 to 5 parts per million of ammonia on the upstream side of the pond. A sample at the outfall side tested 3 to 4 ppm of ammonia, according to Heckler. A reading of 13 ppm is considered chronic toxicity to aquatic life and 1 ppm is considered normal, SWCD officials have said.

The fish, officials said this week, essentially were cooked in the concentrated ammonia in the pond.

The complaint was then deemed valid.