City of Waukon working with Aveka to help prevent, mitigate impact of future incidents

by Joe Moses

Nearly a month ago, the morning of July 20, a couple of contributing factors led to an unplanned discharge and fish kill in a tributary of Paint Creek south of Waukon. That morning, a spill of 76,000 pounds of yeast originating from Aveka Nutra Processing in Waukon followed by a lagoon pump failure at Waukon’s water treatment facility resulted in a discharge into that local stream causing a minor fish kill. In response, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued an advisory to not allow pets or livestock to drink from this creek for a three-day period or until that water cleared up.

Since that incident, officials for both Aveka Nutra Processing and the City of Waukon have been meeting and communicating in regard to trying to prevent and certainly lessen the impact of any such incidents in the future.

The matter was initially discussed by the Waukon City Council during its July 20 meeting while City of Waukon Water and Sewer Superintendent Jim Cooper provided his department report. Maintenance Supervisor Matt Pladsen of Aveka suggested the yeast spill was a training issue with steps being taken to prevent any future occurrences at the Waukon facility.

At the following Waukon City Council meeting August 3, council members Gayle Decker and John Ellingson provided a recap of their recent meeting at Aveka with Site Manager Tom Schwiesow and General Manager John Anderson that also included Cooper, Mayor Pat Stone and City Manager Gary Boden. Ellingson advised that Aveka has owned up to this incident and has put together a plan to address the problem while being open to input from Cooper and the City. In discussing the meeting with Aveka, Ellingson said that he thought Aveka’s management team presented a well-thought-out plan to address this issue and to reduce the risk of this type of incident happening again.

Decker indicated that he was pleased with the meeting, adding that Cooper has a good understanding of the issue and will continue to communicate with Aveka’s management team moving forward. At that same council meeting, Mayor Pat Stone discussed using this incident as a learning experience and indicated that a contact list has been developed to quickly notify landowners downstream and Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker if a similar incident were to take place in the future.

As follow-up to continued communication between Aveka and City of Waukon officials, Boden and Cooper met with The Standard to further clarify and provide an update relating to steps being taken by Aveka. Cooper discussed his recent communication with Jessica Ragsdale, Environmental Specialist with the DNR Field Office in Manchester, indicating that the fish kill resulting from the yeast spill was minor with 151 minnows or small fish killed and no sport fish being affected. Boden advised that any penalties resulting from the fish kill will be presented to Aveka to make restitution.

Ragsdale also recently responded to an information request from The Standard by indicating that the spill resulted in a fish kill stretching just over one mile and that a week after the spill, live minnows were present downstream. Ragsdale’s response also advised that the condition of the creek will continue to be monitored and that the DNR’s legal department is continuing to review the fish kill matter with a penalty and restitution under consideration based upon the value of the fish.

Cooper provided further clarification on Aveka’s planning to prevent future spills of this type, advising that a slam gate will be installed for use with a holding tank at the processing facility in the northern portion of Waukon. Cooper advised that the slam gate can be operated manually by Aveka personnel or will be initiated automatically by a sensor to divert the flow to the holding tank. Cooper said that three types of sensors will be used to initiate the slam gate including a PH sensor detecting acidity levels, a turbidity sensor detecting changes in water clarity and a flow sensor to detect increased flow beyond the plant’s normal parameters.

Cooper further advised that work relating to Aveka’s current expansion and upgrade is projected to be completed September 1 with installation of the slam gate likely to take place sometime after Labor Day. Cooper also said that he will be visiting the Aveka facility on a weekly basis to monitor progress and to verify that this equipment is being installed. He further suggested that as an internal decision, a Water and Sewer employee will be stationed at the lift station to ensure that pumps and equipment are operating properly during similar future incidents with compensation for those work hours being the responsibility of the source of the spill.

Efforts to contact Aveka officials this past week in regard to further details about the measures being taken at the Waukon facility to avoid or limit the impact of similar future incidents did not receive a response in time to meet the press deadline for this week’s edition of The Standard.