WEST BEND — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a manure spill and fish kill that happened Wednesday in rural Kossuth County.

The DNR responded to the manure spill in Lotts Creek, about two miles northeast of West Bend, on Wednesday afternoon.

According to a press release from the DNR, Precision Pumping, a commercial manure application company, was land applying manure through an umbilical rig when a hose came off the pump. The hose then flopped into the creek and spilled an estimated 10,000 gallons of manure before the pump could be shut down.

At the site, DNR found a large number of dead and dying fish in the creek. The department expects the fish kill to be ongoing as the manure moves downstream.

Lotts Creek flows into the East Fork of the Des Moines River about 10 miles downstream from the spill site.

“While not insignificant, the spill is not expected to impact downstream water supplies,” the DNR said.

DNR staff will be on site today to count dead fish. Environmental specialists have collected water samples for testing and will return to monitor the situation. The DNR will consider appropriate enforcement action, it said.