REMBRANDT – About 7:15 a.m., a car lost control on Hwy. 71 about 10 miles north of Storm Lake, ending up in Lateral 6 of Drainage Ditch 35.
While the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Department responded to the accident, the Buena Vista County Sanitarian and Iowa DNR investigated a fuel spill associated with the accident.
An unknown amount of fuel spilled into the ditch, but the Rembrandt Fire Department was able to place three rows of absorbent booms about 1.5 miles southeast of the accident scene. Some fuel escaped, producing a sheen on the water downstream.
The DNR cautions cattle producers who are using the stream for watering to use an alternative source for a few days.
DNR will continue to monitor fuel clean up.