Biotech company to pay $90K for fish kill, spill in Lizard Creek 

CJ Bio America Inc., a biotechnology plant in Fort Dodge, has agreed to pay more than $90,000 to the state for a spill that resulted in a fish kill in Lizard Creek, according to a consent order with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 

The spill occurred in April 2025, when the facility, which manufactures amino-acid additives for livestock, accidentally overfilled a bladder with a manufacturing byproduct. While the majority of the byproduct was contained in a storm water channel, according to DNR, an unknown amount of the byproduct flowed to an adjoining crop field and its tile intakes. 

The material entered the South Branch of Lizard Creek from the tile drainage of the field. DNR field staff observed brown, murky water in the South Branch of Lizard Creek, which flows into Lizard Creek and eventually into the Des Moines River. 

Water testing conducted by the department revealed elevated ammonia levels downstream from the tile drainage to the confluence with the Des Moines River. 

An investigation from fishery staff found the spill killed close to 72,000 fish in the affected waters. Per the consent order, CJ Bio agreed to pay $73,819 in fish kill restitution. Rock bass, smallmouth bass and suckers accounted for the majority of the fish restitution cost. 

In addition, CJ Bio agreed to pay more than $9,100 in investigative costs and an administrative penalty of $7,500. Per the consent order, CJ Bio agreed to pay a total of $90,419. 

In the consent order, DNR wrote the facility had spill prevention measures that were “not adequate to prevent a large amount of toxic material from entering a water of the state.” The department additionally said the facility could have installed level transmitters, inspected the soil berm containing the spill and been quicker to repair the berm to prevent the spill from entering the creek.

“CJ Bio had several measures in place prior to the spill and multiple layers of containment to prevent what occurred. Unfortunately, the incident was ultimately the result of human error,” the order said. 

In addition to paying the agreed-upon amount, the consent order details that CJ Bio will install and maintain monitors in facility storage bladders, update its plan for stormwater pollution prevention and work with the owner of the adjoining field to install a gate valve in the tile line. 

The company said, in a Facebook post following the spill and cleanup, that it planned to install monitoring devices, larger earthen berms for secondary containment in the event of a spill and to explore ways to stop the flow of the nearby drainage tile during an emergency.

“We will continue to evaluate and institute measures to prevent this from happening in the future,” the company wrote at the time.