A conservation nonprofit has filed suit over a major fertilizer spill in southwest Iowa that killed three-quarters of a million fish in 2024.
NEW Cooperative in Red Oak was responsible for the release of about 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer into the Nishnabotna River system in March 2024, reportedly due to a valve incorrectly left open for an entire weekend.
The released fertilizer reached the river through a stormwater drainage ditch and levee and flowed downstream, killing an estimated 750,000 fish in Iowa and Missouri and causing considerable harm to other wildlife before being diluted upon reaching the Missouri river.
Efforts to control the spill were complicated by heavy rains, leading to additional discharges into the river.
NEW Cooperative paid a $50,000 penalty to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and a separate $50,000 to the Montgomery County Conservation Board for land and wildlife management programs, according to court filings. Now it faces a lawsuit filed by the group Nishnabotna Water Defenders, which was organized in the wake of the spill.
The complaint, filed in Montgomery County court, accuses NEW Cooperative of negligence, creating a public nuisance and trespass against downstream property owners.
“The result of this misconduct is that polluting substances have been, or have threatened to be, released repeatedly and in vast quantities into the East Nishnabotna River,” the complaint alleges. “NEW Cooperative has not taken adequate steps to abate the risk of future discharges. These discharges and the risk on ongoing discharges have caused Plaintiff’s members to change their recreational, construction, and business activities to avoid the river, its flood plain, and groundwater in potential hydrological contact with the discharged pollutant.”
Nishnabotna Water Defenders includes in its membership property owners and businesses that rely on the waterway. In a news release, the group accused state officials of giving the cooperative a “sweetheart deal,” with only $100,000 in penalties, “a fraction of the environmental and economic damage caused.” It said it hopes its lawsuit brings full accountability.
“This case is about more than just one spill. It is about the public trust doctrine, which holds state lands and waters in trust for the people of Iowa,” attorney Carrie La Seur said. “Iowa’s navigable waters are not private sewers for industrial accidents. The state has a fiduciary duty to protect these public resources for the benefit of all Iowans. When the state abdicates its duty, the people must step in.”
NEW Cooperative, which is headquartered in Fort Dodge and has locations across western and central Iowa, had not yet responded to the lawsuit Monday, March 16, and did not respond to a message through its website seeking comment.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Conservation group sues NEW Cooperative over massive Iowa fish kill
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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