Iowa family horrified to discover basement flooded with 5 inches of animal blood from meat locker next door
An Iowa family was repulsed to discover their basement filled with nearly five inches of animal blood, fat and bones due to a mishap next door earlier this month.
Nick Lestina, who has lived next door to Dahl's Custom Meat Locker, in Bagley, Iowa, with his wife and children for 10 years, told WHO-TV that the family who owns the meat processing plant has proven unhelpful in wake of the gut-churning incident.
"They haven't reached out at all. In fact, they haven't taken any accountability for it," Lestina told the station. "They say it's not their fault and told me 'good luck.' If I want to do anything about it, it's on my dime and my schedule."
Kevin Wilken, an environment specialist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, contacted the meat locker's owner, Katelyn Dahl, who reported that she slaughtered multiple hogs and cattle on Oct. 3 and flushed the blood down the floor drain.
Dahl told Wilken she believes the plant's drainage system shares pipes with a drain in Lestina's basement, which may have caused the horror-movie scene in the family's home.
Though Wilken described the company as "pretty cooperative" throughout the investigation, Nick Lestina maintains that Dahl refuses to foot the bill for the cleanup and for their alternate housing, despite the fact that health department officials advised him and his family of six to move out until the potential biohazard has been cleaned up.
"I'm looking into thousands of dollars with cleanup, over $2,000 just to sanitize the basement," he told WHO-TV. "I don't have thousands of dollars to throw away at this."
"No one wants to see that, smell that," he added. "I wouldn't want that for anybody in their house."
