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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Staff Writer
WAPAKONETA — Owners of a St. Marys company cooperated fully, accepted responsibility and paid restitution for manure run-off into that Auglaize River in August that resulted in a fish kill.
WWA Farms, a division of Whitney’s Painting and Sandblasting, paid $17,588 in restitution for the loss of fish and aquatic life and for investigative costs by the members of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.
“WWA Farms of St. Marys was determined to be the responsible party and has been fully cooperative in working with the Division of Wildlife to repay the full restitution amount,” an ODNR report says. “They have also examined additional options to help offset the ecological impact from this unfortunate and unintentional incident and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
WWA Farms co-owner Mike Whitney said they applied the manure following accepted procedures, but they were not going shirk their responsibilities for unintentionally killing wildlife.
“I feel bad for the fish that died and the fishermen who sport fish in the Auglaize River,” Whitney said. “We want everybody to know if we do something wrong and get in trouble, then we are going to pay the bill and keep on going. I am not going to go back on somebody else or to try and get out of it.”
An ODNR report says manure run-off from a wheat field and alfalfa field on Blackhoof Creek Road entered into Dry Run Creek and the Auglaize River resulting in the death of 8,994 fish and aquatic invertebrates, with an estimated value of $11,752. Restitution also includes the cost of the probe by ODNR investigators.
Auglaize County Wildlife Officer Matt Hoehn started the investigation after receiving reports in early August of numerous dead fish at the dam at the Hamilton Street Bridge in Wapakoneta. The calls led to an investigation for two days starting on Aug. 6.
Two factors initially were considered for the kill — the low level of the river, which was lowered so crews could work on a stormwater sewer pipe, and a high level of ammonia in the water, which would deplete oxygen and suffocate the fish.
Hoehn dismissed the lowering of the Auglaize River after tracing the ammonia for approximately 4 miles upstream of the Auglaize River and 1 mile of Dry Run Creek.
“A hog operator contracted with Whitney to take out their hog manure and irrigate their field,” Hoehn said. “They injected the manure into the soil on Aug. 4 and Aug. 5. and it eventually went into the tile.”
The report indicates 564,000 gallons of liquid manure from a double-wide hog pit had been cut-in and lightly spread on 38 acres of a harvested wheat and alfalfa field on Blackhoof Creek Road. A main drainage tile runs through the field and empties into Dry Run Creek near Ohio 67, which drains into the Auglaize River.
“It was determined that the extremely dry and cracked condition of the soil due to the prolonged lack of rainfall, combined with the fact that the manure was applied over two consecutive days with a significant rainfall occurring between the two application periods ultimately led to so much hog manure pollutant entering the unplugged drainage tile in the wheat field and washing into Dry Run Creek,” an ODNR report says.
Auglaize Soil and Water Conservation District Manure Management Specialist Frances Springer said WWA Farms is “an excellent applicator” and they have “absolutely no complaints” about their work. She said they are “one of the best in the county.”
“They are very good about locating all of the tile mains, and they make sure to plug them with tile plugs to make sure if any manure gets in there it is stopped before it reaches a waterway,” Springer said.
Springer called it an unfortunate event because the run-off was due to the dry weather and rainfall during the drought.
She said she attended a training session at approximately the same time of the event, and she learned one-half surface cracks in the soil can extended into the ground as far as 18 to 20 inches.
At that width and depth, hog manure with a trace amount of rain would act just like water and run into a tile or drain into a waterway.
She said the method of application used by WWA works the ground while injecting the manure to enrich the soil with nutrients while trying to control the smell.
“Naturally, the river will heal itself and fish and aquatic life is moving down the river,” Springer said. “It will take a few years before larger fish can be caught, but the river will come back.
“People just need to know they are one of our better applicators and we have never had a problem with them,” she said. “The weather was not very cooperative this year — it is just an unfortunate event for the wildlife and the Whitneys.” |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 November 2008 )
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