DNR Still Watching NE Iowa Ethanol Spill

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says officials continue to monitor the Mississippi River after a derailed train leaked ethanol into the water.

According to a news release issued Tuesday, the DNR has begun using air pumps in the water where three train cars went off the tracks Feb. 4 and tumbled into the river. A total of eight cars that derailed appeared to spill ethanol.

The DNR says the air pumps can evaporate some of the ethanol in the water into the air. Water samples taken along the Mississippi so far haven't produced fuel levels that would be toxic to fish.

The DNR say ice slabs will be analyzed to determine ethanol concentrations as well as recovered materials containing freshwater mussels to see what species may have been affected.