State environmental officials have contained about 150,000 gallons of liquid from a former tanning company in a dried former channel of the Missouri River, keeping it from contaminating the river. The liquid is believed to have originated from a wastewater lagoon on the former site of the U.S Tanning Company.
The liquid apparently entered a pipe that workers were unaware of when construction was being done to restore wetlands on the site west of Salix in Woodbury County. The material will be pumped into tankers and a decision on what to do with the liquid will be made after the results of samples have been analysed to determine what chemicals might be present.
The liquid was trapped in an oxbow of the Missouri River. An oxbow occurs when a meander in a river becomes cut off after a new channel is formed. If it doesn't rain, Sievers said any contamination should be contained from reaching the Missouri River. As a precaution, downstream water supplies at Council Bluffs and Omaha have been advised of the situation.
