The fertilizer spill in Red Oak, Iowa caused a massive fish kill. Officials in Iowa and Missouri say the liquid nitrogen fertilizer leaking into the nearby East Nishnabotna River resulted in the deaths of nearly all fish in a 60-mile stretch of the river. That's estimated at more than 3 quarters of a million fish. Many frogs, snakes, mussels, and earthworms were also killed. The leak of over 250-thousand gallons of fertilizer happened in an area not required to have a system in place to keep leaks from reaching the river. Restitution has not yet been determined.
Fertilizer Spill Pollutes 60 Miles Of West IA River
![Dead fish and eels killed by a red tide in the Tampa Bay area collect in St. Petersburg, Florida.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f39a987/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4029x3022+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2021%2F07%2F13%2Ftampa_bay_big_bayou_red_tide_fish_kill_eric_higgs-210f2259563241e7c7c7baffa39dfc8356825f74.jpg)
Eric Higgs
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Tampa Bay Estuary Program