ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says about 46,000 gallons of sewage sludge was released from a water treatment plant in Rockwell City.
The DNR says Monday the sludge was released over the weekend when an employee left the plant to fix a broken water main and forgot to turn off a sludge pump.
The mistake was discovered Saturday morning, and by that time the sludge had flowed under a road toward Lake Creek.
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Workers stopped the flow, dammed the sludge and removed it from the ground. An unknown amount reached the creek, and DNR staffers found a small amount visible atop the iced-over creek.
Rockwell City is in Calhoun County, about 20 miles southwest of Fort Dodge.
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