A Buchanan County couple have settled an environmental lawsuit that alleged they conducted a series of illegal manure releases in September of 2015. James and Sue Frye own and operate a hog confinement feeder operation southeast of Hazelton and have agreed to pay a $15,000 fine and agreed not to violate state water pollution and manure control regulations. The agreement on the lawsuit brought by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller also includes a statement from the Fryes admitting to improperly retaining and applying the manure to their land, failing to use a certified service for land manure application and failing to notify the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of the manure discharges. The DNR reports that over the course of four days last September, the Fryes applied approximately 96,000 gallons of hog manure to three farm fields and the manure was discharged through the tile lines into nearby Pine Creek. It is estimated that discharge killed 5,459 fish.
