Manure spill hits Mendota
Farmer faces steep fine

By Bill Novak
March 9, 2005

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Almost a half-million gallons of liquid manure washed off a farm field and flowed down two streams into Lake Mendota in February, the worst manure runoff this winter in south-central Wisconsin.

The farmer responsible for the massive runoff could face fines and court costs of up to $517 per day for a number of days, depending on how long the Department of Natural Resources determined the manure from the 80-acre field washed into Dorn Creek, a tributary of Six Mile Creek, which flows into Lake Mendota's north shore.

Ken Johnson, DNR basin supervisor for the Lower Rock River basin, told The Capital Times today the name of the farmer can't be released because of an ongoing investigation into what happened.

"A farmer in northwest Dane County applied liquid manure before a major thaw on the weekend of Feb. 5-6," Johnson said. "His manure storage pit was getting to the top, so he applied 6,000 gallons per acre on an 80-acre field he had a rental agreement on."

DNR officials aren't as concerned about a fish kill in this huge manure runoff, unlike the hundreds of trout killed two weeks ago following a similar manure runoff into the west branch of the Sugar River near Mount Horeb.

"We have not noted a fish kill in Dorn Creek, nor have we seen anything that would indicate a fish kill," Johnson said.

However, the manure flow into the area's biggest lake will result in up to a ton of phosphorus being added to the lake at a time when county officials are trying to rid the lake of phosphorus because of what it can do in promoting the creation of algae in lake water.

"Lake Mendota normally gets about 70,000 pounds of phosphorus loaded into it every year," Johnson said. "This manure runoff could add between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds at one time. Phosphorus is a key component for the growth of plants in the lake."

"As a rule, manure going into the lake is not a good thing," said Dane County Board Supervisor Brett Hulsey of the Lakes and Watershed Commission. "We need stronger controls on the storage and spreading of manure."

Spreading liquid manure onto frozen farm fields is legal, but efforts are under way in Dane County to prohibit the practice.

A public hearing was set for this afternoon on new storage regulations being proposed, a hearing at which frustrated farmers were expected to turn out to say they don't have anywhere else to go with manure unless they spend thousands of dollars on new storage facilities.

The charge that the unidentified farmer could face from the DNR is for "discharging deleterious materials into a state waterway."

"That's a catch-all for any discharge into water of material that shouldn't be there," Johnson said.

While it isn't known how much of the 480,000 gallons of manure that had been spread onto the field actually went into the creek, DNR officials believe it was substantial.

"Photos showed significant amounts of manure running off into Dorn Creek," Johnson said.

E-mail: bnovak@madison.com

Published: 1:43 PM 3/9/05