The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is monitoring waterways in the Burlington area after 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater were discharged at an army ammunition plant.
A pump failed Monday, April 15, 2013 in the wastewater treatment plant at the Iowa Army Ammunition facility in Middletown, Iowa. The plant is about ten miles west of Burlington.
The pump failure allowed an estimated 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater to discharge into an unnamed tributary of the Skunk River and then into the Mississippi River.
A statement from the DNR said they “will issue a notice of violation for failure to report the discharge within 12 hours,” since the release was not reported until Wednesday morning, April 17.
The plant manufactures large-caliber ammunition for the U.S. military.