CJ Bio America Agrees to $90,000 Settlement for Lizard Creek Spill That Killed 72,000 Fish
核心洞察
CJ Bio America Inc. (搜索) has agreed to pay $90,419 to the state of Iowa following an April 2025 manufacturing byproduct spill that killed nearly 72,000 fish in Lizard Creek.
The spill occurred when a storage bladder was accidentally overfilled, sending ammonia-laden material through tile drainage into the South Branch of Lizard Creek and eventually the Des Moines River.
The Iowa DNR determined the facility's spill prevention measures were inadequate, citing the incident as the result of human error despite multiple layers of containment.
A biotechnology plant in Fort Dodge, Iowa, has agreed to pay more than $90,000 to the state after a manufacturing byproduct spill in April 2025 resulted in a massive fish kill in Lizard Creek, according to a consent order with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
CJ Bio America Inc. (搜索), which manufactures amino-acid additives for livestock, accidentally overfilled a bladder with a manufacturing byproduct. While the majority of the byproduct was contained in a storm water channel, an unknown amount flowed to an adjoining crop field and its tile intakes. The material subsequently entered the South Branch of Lizard Creek from the tile drainage of the field.
DNR field staff observed brown, murky water in the South Branch of Lizard Creek, which flows into Lizard Creek and eventually into the Des Moines River. Water testing conducted by the department revealed elevated ammonia levels downstream from the tile drainage to the confluence with the Des Moines River.
Scale of the Environmental Impact
An investigation by fishery staff found the spill killed close to 72,000 fish in the affected waters. Rock bass, smallmouth bass, and suckers accounted for the majority of the fish restitution cost. Per the consent order, CJ Bio agreed to pay $73,819 in fish kill restitution, more than $9,100 in investigative costs, and an administrative penalty of $7,500, bringing the total to $90,419.
Inadequate Prevention Measures
In the consent order, the DNR wrote that the facility had spill prevention measures that were "not adequate to prevent a large amount of toxic material from entering a water of the state." The department additionally noted the facility could have installed level transmitters, inspected the soil berm containing the spill, and been quicker to repair the berm to prevent the spill from entering the creek.
"CJ Bio had several measures in place prior to the spill and multiple layers of containment to prevent what occurred. Unfortunately, the incident was ultimately the result of human error," the order stated.
Corrective Actions Required
Beyond the financial penalty, the consent order mandates that CJ Bio install and maintain monitors in facility storage bladders, update its plan for stormwater pollution prevention, and work with the owner of the adjoining field to install a gate valve in the tile line.
In a Facebook post following the spill and cleanup, the company indicated it planned to install monitoring devices, construct larger earthen berms for secondary containment in the event of a spill, and explore ways to stop the flow of the nearby drainage tile during an emergency.
"We will continue to evaluate and institute measures to prevent this from happening in the future," the company wrote at the time.