Wednesday, April 17th, 2019
Farm will get bill for fish kill
By William Kincaid
CELINA - Manure discharged from a Fort Recovery farm into an open ditch earlier this month led to a fish kill in a tributary to the Wabash River, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors members learned at Tuesday's meeting.
The SWCD also was notified of a fish kill north of Grand Lake caused by rising water temperatures, not a manure discharge.
The number of fish that died in the Wabash River tributary is unknown, but district technician Matt Heckler characterized the incident as a small fish kill. He said Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife officials were on the scene counting the fish.
Spokeswoman Kathy Garza-Behr confirmed that the Division of Wildlife is investigating a report of "a stream litter/fish kill" in Mercer County. However, she did not know how many fish were killed.
Glacier-Hill Farms LLC, located at 2605 Fox Road, Fort Recovery and owned by Daryl Guggenbiller, will be sent notices of violation from ODNR and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Heckler said. It will also be sent a bill for the fish kill.
Heckler and Ohio Department of Agriculture Resource Management Specialist Frances Springer on April 9 investigated a complaint of discolored water in a creek crossing Fort Recovery-Minster Road west of the intersection of Township Line Road in the Wabash River Watershed.
The two found the creek water to be discolored. It tested at more than 10 parts per million of ammonia, Heckler said. The discharge was traced back to Glacier-Hill Farm LLC.
"A transfer line between the settling manure storage pond and the flush pond had become plugged by solids," Heckler wrote in his report. "Manure water then flowed over the bank of the settling pond down the levee and into the open ditch by both surface flow and through several tiles."
The owner, Heckler said, had cleared the plug the day before but did not realize how much manure had overflowed the bank. Once notified, the owner obtained tile plugs and used them to plug the discharging tiles, Heckler continued.
"The creek empties into the Wabash River east of Township Line Road north of Fort Recovery-Minster Road," Heckler wrote. "The discolored water was evident as it entered the Wabash."
Heckler returned to the scene later that afternoon to verify the plugs had been installed by the owner.
"The producer also cut a surface trench between the two ponds in an effort to prevent this from occurring again," Heckler wrote.
Moving on to another complaint, Heckler said he was notified on April 8 of a fish kill on the north side of Grand Lake. The fish kill was not the result of a manure violation, he noted.
"Apparently it occurs whenever the water temperature in the lake changes," he said.
