ALTURA, Minn. — A manure disposal company, Brett Dankers Pumping, has been fined $15,100 for a fish kill in the Straight Valley Creek whose headwaters are near Altura. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said it counted 33 dead brown trout and 11 blacknose dace. The creek, a protected trout stream, empties into Rollingstone Creek and then to Mississippi River. The liquid manure had been spread on a farm in April. “The amount of manure overloaded the field’s ability to retain the waste,” the agency said. Dankers Pumping, of Goodhue, 50 miles away, was ordered to clean up the site. The company also was ordered to notify the agency of future spills promptly.
