DNR report: manure run-off from Emerald Sky Dairy causes localized fish kill
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
TOWN OF EMERALD — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued a report concerning run-off in November from manure spread on a field by Emerald Sky Dairy that resulted in a localized fish kill in Hutton Creek.
The report, dated December 23, 2019, states that on November 21 at around 7:30 a.m., Jeff Jackson, DNR Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Specialist, was notified by DNR Warden Isaac Kruse of manure run-off along county Highway G east of Emerald Sky Dairy.
Kruse said the manure run-off was reported to him by voicemail the night before at around 11 p.m., and the anonymous person said manure was running down the Highway G road ditch.
About 15 minutes after receiving notification from Kruse, CAFO Specialist Jackson contacted Brian Mooney, Emerald Sky Dairy Nutrient Management Planning (NMP)/Compliance Manager.
Emerald Sky Dairy had applied manure to a nearby field (ERICS-3) on November 20 and had completed the application later in the afternoon, according to the DNR report.
Jackson had finished a manure hauling audit on the field in question the day the manure had been applied.
According to an appendix to the report, liquid manure was being applied at a rate of approximately 11,000 to 13,000 gallons per acre, and the weather forecast indicated rain was expected within the next 24 hours.
The report notes National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data for Baldwin, Wisconsin, indicates rain totals of .02 inch November 20, 2019, and .36 inch November 21.
Later that morning on November 21 around 8:45 a.m., Jackson met Kruse and Warden Paul Sickman at Highway G near the Hutton Creek Bridge. Kruse and Sickman noted water that appeared to be full of manure was running down a grass waterway and had entered the road ditch along Highway G.
The manure water traveled about 800 feet down the road ditch and then flowed into an intermittent section of Hutton Creek.
DNR staff believed the manure was coming from the field identified as ERICS-3 and running down the waterway and toward the creek, the report states.
The field is south of a residence at 2553 Highway G, Emerald.
At a little after 9 a.m., an employee from Emerald Sky Dairy met with DNR staff to talk about cleanup of the manure run-off.
DNR officials requested Emerald Sky Dairy construct an earthen berm at the head of the waterway by the field’s eastern border to prevent additional manure run-off from leaving the field. Two straw bales also were placed in the ditch along Highway G to help keep more manure run-off from flowing down the ditch.
Emerald Sky Dairy personnel contacted a septic hauler to remove manure-laden water from the ditch, constructed a berm at the edge of the field and began making tillage passes on fields ERICS-3 and ERICS-4 to till manure and stormwater into the soil.
“All of these actions were important steps in reducing run-off flow to the grass waterway, road ditch and Hutton Creek,” according to the DNR report.
CAFO Specialist Jackson continued an in-stream investigation to take water samples while Emerald Sky Dairy personnel worked on clean-up activities.
The report states that the water entering Hutton Creek was brown, turbid and smelled of manure. A pile of white foam also was developing at the point where the road ditch channel entered Hutton Creek.
With further investigation of Hutton Creek downstream from Highway G, DNR personnel observed dead minnows about 30 feet from the bridge crossing. Species included central mud minnow, fathead minnow, creek chub and brook stickleback.
When CAFO Specialist Jackson found the dead minnows, he notified DNR Fisheries personnel who began a fish kill investigation at bridge crossings downstream of Highway G. The bridge crossings included 160th Avenue, 250th Street, 170th Avenue and county Highway O.
DNR personnel continued monitoring the creek until November 26, 2019, but no additional fish kills or stream impairments were discovered, according to the DNR report.
The results of the water samples taken by DNR personnel indicate that downstream of the Highway G bridge, there were high levels of bacteria as well as high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen that exceeded surface water quality standards. And while the water above the Highway G bridge crossing looked clear, test results indicated higher than expected levels of bacteria and nutrients, leading DNR personnel to believe it was possible waste had backed up above the point where the run-off had entered Hutton Creek, according to the DNR report.
