Clogged pipe to blame for manure spill at park

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: May 27, 2009 - 9:13 AM

A significant manure spill in southwestern Minnesota that is keeping a state park beach closed is being blamed on a dairy farm's clogged pipe.

The beach at Split Rock Creek State Park in Pipestone County was closed over the Memorial Day weekend because of the spill of 250,000 to 300,000 gallons of manure from the Pater dairy farm in Eden Township, state officials said.

The park reported Tuesday that the beach will remain closed for all of this week and will not open until testing shows the necessary reduction in the fecal coliform level. Boating and other activities have not been affected.

The spill on May 4 occurred about 7 miles north of the park when a pipe became plugged, causing one of the manure holding ponds to overflow, said county environmental administrator Kyle Krier. This is the first spill occurring at this farm, Krier said.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is investigating the spill, which could lead to the farm being cited for one or more violations, said Forrest Peterson, an MPCA spokesman in Willmar.

Randy Pater, the farm's operator, agreed with officials about how the runoff occurred and said that he has had earthen berms built on his land to prevent spills in the future.

The spill killed slightly fewer than 100 fish, which is considered a small number, said Brian Schultz, a fisheries supervisor with the state Department of Natural Resources in Windom. Most of the fish were black bullheads, Schultz said.

The creek is home to the federally endangered Topeka shiner. There has been no evidence that any among that species have been killed, Schultz said. The Topeka shiner is a small fish found in prairie streams in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota. It has been listed as endangered for 11 years.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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