State environmental officials are investigating two separate incidents of water pollution from over the weekend. In the first case, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says an industrial cleaner being used at the Tyson-Hillshire plant in Storm Lake was supposed to go to the factory’s wastewater system. Instead, D-N-R spokesman Kevin Baskins says the chemical ran across a parking lot and found its way into Storm Lake.
Baskins says the chemical was likely diluted by all of the snow melt, following last week’s storm that brought about eight inches of snow to the area. The second incident was in Fairfield where a black tar-like substance was found in a tributary of Cedar Creek.
He says it appears the environmental impact in the Fairfield case was minimal.
Both incidents remain under investigation.
