Liquid manure leaked from an open-air lagoon at a western Michigan dairy farm, getting into a creek and spreading for at least five miles, a state official said.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality began investigating the spill Friday after getting calls, TV station WXMI and The Grand Rapids Press reported.
DEQ analyst Bruce Washburn said a stormwater system failure at Schaendorf dairy farm in Monterey Township, about 30 miles southwest of Grand Rapids, led to the leak into the county drain system. Manure seeped into Bear Creek and reached the village of Hopkins.
“It’s going to take time to naturally flush the manure out of the stream and creeks,” Washburn said. “But, the farm is also working to mitigate as much as they can at this point by pumping out water and manure downstream of where the spill occurred to the extent they can.”
A valve failed between the stormwater system and the lagoon, which allowed manure to back up into the stormwater pipes, Washburn said. It wasn’t immediately known how much manure got into the drainage system or how long the leak lasted.
Washburn said farm staff stopped the flow Saturday morning. Since then, workers at the farm have been trying to pump manure out of drainage ditches.
Farm owner John Schaendorf, who said he was out of state at the time the spill was discovered, told WXMI that crews are working to collect the manure. He said workers plugged the broken valve area with concrete so more liquid manure can’t escape.
“We did make sure it isn’t going to happen again,” he said.
The manure seeped into Bear Creek, which feeds into the Rabbit River, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River that eventually ends up in Lake Michigan.
Manure spills can kill fish by depleting oxygen from the water, as well boost the growth of bacteria in the water. Cold water temperatures during the winter should mitigate some of these effects, Washburn said, although test results are pending.
“The water is very high in dissolved oxygen and the fish are pretty lethargic,” he said. “Microbes aren’t doing much at all in these temperatures.”
People in the area should avoid contact with the water, Washburn said. The DEQ plans to coordinate cleanup and monitoring efforts with other state and local officials.
Provided by the Bellingham Herald