City of Duluth Settlement for 2024 Fishkill Incident

MN MPCA News

Filed March 30th, 2026

Detected March 31st, 2026

Summary

MPCA announced a settlement with the City of Duluth for a fishkill incident in Tischer Creek. The city will pay a $12,000 fine and $190,000 in natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) compensation. The August 2024 incident killed approximately 2,300 fish, including nearly 1,600 brook trout, after treated drinking water containing chlorine and ammonia was released into the creek.

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What changed

The City of Duluth reached a settlement with MPCA and the Minnesota DNR for a 2024 fishkill incident in Tischer Creek. Approximately 1.7 million gallons of treated drinking water containing chlorine and ammonia was released into the creek after a pump problem during reservoir sanitization, killing an estimated 2,300 fish. The city will pay a $12,000 administrative fine and $190,000 in NRDA compensation for restoration projects such as fish migration barrier removal and a learn-to-fish program with Hartley Nature Center.

MPCA noted that the city completed corrective actions including updates to its stormwater pollution prevention program to prevent future discharges. When calculating penalties, MPCA considers the severity of environmental harm, whether violations were first-time or repeat, and attempts to recover economic benefit gained from delayed compliance. Government agencies and municipalities should review their water discharge procedures and ensure proper protocols are in place during maintenance operations.

What to do next

Review water discharge procedures during reservoir maintenance operations
Update stormwater pollution prevention programs to prevent drinking water system discharges to waterways
Ensure protocols account for chlorine and ammonia residuals in any water releases

Penalties

$12,000 administrative fine and $190,000 in natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) compensation

Source document (simplified)

News release

March 30, 2026

Contact

MPCA communications, news.mpca@state.mn.us

City of Duluth reaches settlement with MPCA, DNR on 2024 fishkill

The city of Duluth will pay a $12,000 fine and spend $190,000 in compensation for a 2024 incident that led to a fishkill in Tischer Creek. The compensation is a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) claim for the incident that killed an estimated 2,300 fish. Nearly 1,600 of those fish were brook trout.

The incident occurred in August of 2024 when city crews released about 1.7 million gallons of treated drinking water from the Woodland Reservoir into Tischer Creek after experiencing a pump problem while sanitizing the reservoir. The water contained chlorine and ammonia as part of the drinking water treatment process and was considered safe to drink but fatal to fish.

The NRDA funds will be used for future restoration projects such as projects that remove barriers to fish migration and allow them to return to the impacted portion of the creek. The city will also implement a learn-to-fish program in coordination with the Hartley Nature Center.

The city of Duluth completed several corrective actions that include changes to the city’s stormwater pollution prevention program. It establishes processes and procedures to prevent future discharges from the drinking water system directly to lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands.

The MPCA remains committed to protecting human health and the environment by enforcing rules and regulations and limiting pollution emissions and discharges from facilities. When regulated parties do not fully comply with regulatory requirements, the resulting pollution can be harmful to people and the environment.

When calculating penalties, the MPCA considers how seriously the violations affected or could have affected the environment, and whether they were first-time or repeat violations. The agency also attempts to recover the economic benefit the company gained by failing to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner.

The NRDA aims to evaluate environmental harm caused by the release. They identify responsible parties and ensure the public is compensated for lost recreational and ecological benefits by implementing restoration projects benefiting the impacted resources.