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DNR Reports Manure Spill On Oneida Reservation

300K Gallons Of Contaminated Water Spilled Into Creek In Northeastern Wisconsin

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manure spreading
Kelli Cardinal/AP Photo

Three-hundred-thousand gallons of manure-contaminated water spilled into a creek in northeastern Wisconsin.

The spill is believed to have happened late Sunday after a week of heavy rains, combined with a faulty valve at the Phil Roberts farm, which is home to 220 head of cattle. According to the state Department of Natural Resources, a containment pit overflowed into Silver Creek — a tributary of the larger Duck Creek.

The manure went down a grassy slope into Silver Creek near the Outagamie and Brown county line, within the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin’s boundaries.

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James Snitgen, water resources supervisor for the tribe, said, “because of the recent heavy rains there was way more water makeup in that, so I wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘manure,’ I’d call it a manure-water mixture going down.”

Snitgen said the spill has killed fish-like minnows, long nose dace and blue gills. He said the DNR, the two counties, and the tribe are working with the farm to pump out the contaminated water.

“The remaining cleanup is going to be to flush that grass waterway that comes down the hill to the stream and gather the water that is used to flush it in that pit then pump that back into their manure pit to clean it up,” he said.

Snitgen said the farm will be required to update its valve system.

In the meantime Brown County’s public health officer, Anna Destree, said people, and their pets, should stay away from the affected creek.

“We don’t want people to play in the water, walk in the water, fish in the water, do anything in the water where they could get exposed to things such as e-coli,” she said.