dead fish
Fish found dead in a pond in the Maryknoll subdivision southwest of the intersection of I-355 and Roosevelt Road.

Glen Ellyn, Illinois - Concerns are still looming for some after a fish kill was said to have killed hundreds of fish earlier this month in the Maryknoll Estates subdivision.

"I have been a field editor for MidWest Outdoors magazine and have witnessed dozens of winter fish kills," Glen Ellyn resident Jim Janik wrote in an email to the Glen Ellyn News. "I have never seen a fish kill like the one which occurred in our subdivision."

Hundreds of dead fish were found floating and washed ashore in a pond March 10 in Maryknoll Estates, southwest of Interstate 355 and Roosevelt Road in Glen Ellyn.

After much media attention, Glen Ellyn police sent out a news release March 11 stating that they had consulted the staff of the DuPage County Forest Preserve and were informed of the fairly common occurrence known as "fish kill," which is caused by oxygen depletion in shallow ponds.

"The oxygen depletion is caused by snow-covered ice on ponds that prevents sunlight from penetrating, which does not allow plant life in the water to produce oxygen," the release stated. "Fish use up the existing oxygen and suffocate."

Factors this winter seem to have been especially right for this condition because of the large amounts of snowfall, according to the release.
Still, Janik was not entirely sold on that explanation as he said multiple species such as snapping turtles, channel catfish and mature bass turned up dead in the subdivision's pond.

He said he found two large turtles and two bass dead on one of his daily walks with his dog by the pond March 17.

"It's kind of sad that all those critters had to die and it's sad that everyone's brushing it under the carpet," said Janik, who's lived in the subdivision next to the pond since 1989.

Janik said his concerns also stem from work the village's Public Works department completed near the subdivision Jan. 16. He was concerned sewage might have made its way to the pond, resulting in the death of the fish and turtles.

Interim Public Works Director Jeff Perrigo said the work performed Jan. 16 was on a water main, so any water that would have made its way into the pond was clean.

Don LaBrose, fisheries biologist for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, said it's natural to still see more species turn up dead from the original fish kill at Maryknoll.

"There may be some critters just showing up now," LaBrose said. "(The dead turtles) probably were part of the initial kill because turtles hibernate in the lower part of the lake."

LaBrose said there have not been any other fish kills in the Glen Ellyn area that he's heard of besides one in a pond about 11 miles away at the Maple Meadows Golf Club in Wood Dale last week.

He said he suspects the fish have been dead about as long as the ones that turned up in Maryknoll pond earlier in March.

Monique Wilharm, director of pond maintenance for the Maryknoll Estates Owners Association, said dead fish started surfacing at Maryknoll pond March 5. It was not until the afternoon of March 10 that hundreds of fish started floating.

"It was pretty overwhelming - the smell," Wilharm said. "It was rather disgusting."

Wilharm said three associations share the cost for maintaining the pond, including the local homeowners association.

Marine biochemists were contracted to facilitate the clean up of the pond, but many of the fish were gone by the time they arrived, she said. She speculated the fish either sunk to the bottom, were eaten by birds or floated away.

"Nature kind of took its course," Wilharm said.