Missouri Valley, Iowa.-As much as 1,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia is suspected of leaking from underground piping at Farmer Services Co., according to state officials. The company reported Aug. 23 to the Division of Natural Resources that between 56,000 to 64,000 gallons stored in an above-ground tank were missing from its inventory and had possibly seeped out of the piping, but then updated the loss to 100 gallons. “The last I have heard is that our best estimate right now is that 1,000 to 1,500 gallons were missing,” DNR spokesman Kevin Baskins told Green Markets. “Several wells were tested in the area, some because of requests of property owners and some just because of proximity to the site. And although there were some higher than normal detects of ammonia in some of the wells, there were no nitrate or nitrite levels detected above 1 part per million. The water quality standard for drinking water is 10 ppm.” Baskins added that Farmer Services will be hiring a consultant to determine the potential for groundwater and soil contamination. There was no indication why the piping could be leaking, but press reports stated that the company has been excavating near the underground piping to determine if a release of any kind occurred.
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