FORT DODGE, Iowa – A major kill, estimated at 74,000, was discovered in popular fishing and tubing Lizard Creek west of Fort Dodge. The state Natural Resources Department blamed a fertilizer spill at the CJ Bio America plant up the South Branch of Lizard Creek. The plant manufactures the amino acid additives lysine and threonine for swine and poultry diets. The plant is part of the Korea-owned industrial conglomerate CJ CheilJedang. Lizard Creek empties into Lehigh Creek, which is a tributary of the Des Moines River and the Mississippi at Keokuk, Iowa. The CJ Bio spill was he second in three months in Iowa. The other was near Decorah 120 mikes away.
Earlier: Feedlot spill poisons Iowa drainage
Lizard Creek. A sandy but rocky stream that usually runs clear. Turned brown and murky from fertilizer byproduct spill. Images: Iowa Natural Resources Department
