WILLEY, Iowa —Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, on Friday (today), followed up on an anonymous tip received Thursday night indicating manure was discharging from the Wendl Feedlot about 6.5 miles south of Carroll. When notified, feedlot owner Brian Wendl left his vacation and drove 900 miles overnight to oversee containing and cleaning up the runoff.

Friday morning, DNR staff found runoff leaving several locations from a saturated field, flowing into a tributary of Willey Creek. The discharge occurred when the field became saturated following an attempt to dewater a basin used to contain manure.

DNR staff found elevated ammonia levels in the tributary at the field, but considerably lower levels a mile downstream. The tributary flows into Willey Creek and then into the Middle Raccoon. There were no signs of dead fish. And the stream was running high after about three inches of rain in the last few days.

Wendl was constructing a berm along the stream to stop runoff. DNR is sending water samples to a laboratory for testing. Staff will monitor the cleanup and containment. DNR will consider appropriate enforcement action.