About two million liters of liquid manure leaked from a faulty storage tank and contaminated two streams and a lake in western Germany in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This is reported by the authorities.
The incident happened Monday evening at a farm in the town of Velbert. The manure ended up several kilometers north in Lake Baldeney near the city of Essen. “The flow is now over,” said Daniela Hitzemann, spokeswoman for the Mettmann district. The clean-up operation has now started.
There would be no impact on the local drinking water supply. There are wells along the route, but they are so deep that they have not been affected. At least eight dead fish were discovered in the contaminated areas. There is also a penetrating manure smell in the region.
The cause is said to be a defective seal of the tank with a capacity of 2,000 cubic meters. According to spokeswoman Hitzemann, the farmer involved was able to store part of the liquid manure in containers.
Emergency workers were able to pump out part of the rest, but because the streams were full of water at that time, most of the liquid manure had already floated away by then.
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