MORE FISH DEAD IN IOWA... Lizard Creek Fish Kill near Fort Dodge

Well, here's another regular occurrence in Iowa: a massive chemical spill, miles of pollution, and countless numbers of dead fish.

Photo: Andrew Motley - Confluence of Lizard Creek and Des Moines River, Fort Dodge, Iowa

This time, according to The Fort Dodge Messenger, CJ Bio America had a fertilizer byproduct leak out of their facility and end up in Lizard Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River. While there are no current estimates on how much material leaked into the river system and no estimates on ecological impacts to fish and other species, there is likely to be a significant impact on local fish and wildlife populations in Lizard Creek.

According to the Iowa DNR, "dead fish were also observed in the creek for several miles."

Photo from Aaron McKinney: A pair of dead redhorse in Lizard Creek

Lizard Creek is historically known as a clear-water stream that is a popular spot for recreation including paddling, fishing, and even for kids, swimming during the summertime. Unfortunately, there will be significant impacts to this wildlife corridor as a result of this spill.

Lizard Creek runs into the Des Moines River in the town of Fort Dodge, and the confluence shows the clear and detrimental effects that this spill will have far downstream of Lizard Creek all the way through the Des Moines River system.

Photo: Andrew Motley - Confluence of Lizard Creek and Des Moines River, Fort Dodge, Iowa

It would be great to see significant costs to a company like this as a result of this type of incident. After an incident in 2024 in the East Nishnabotna river system that killed more than half a million fish, the company responsible still has only been required to pay a fine of just $10,000 for the spill. Are our natural resources not worth more than that? Can we not hold big corporations accountable for further polluting our natural resources and killing off our fish and wildlife, as well as impacting our water quality?

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