FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013

Contact: Terry Woster at 605-773-3178

     State Rights-of-Way Carcass Removal Operation Ending

PIERRE, S.D. – The contractor removing livestock carcasses from state highway rights-of-way will complete that operation today (Wednesday, Oct. 23).

The blizzard that struck western South Dakota on Oct. 4 dumped record amounts of snow in some areas and resulted in the deaths of thousands of cattle and other livestock. The state contracted with Dakota Rendering, Inc., of Freeman, S.D., to remove carcasses from state rights-of-way. That operation will be complete by the end of today.

Several of the 15 storm-impacted counties also have been working to remove carcasses from their road rights-of-way, and individual producers are dealing with the task of handling the carcasses found on private property.

For producers still dealing with the process of removing carcasses from their property, the South Dakota Animal Industry Board and the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources have prepared guidelines on how to properly dispose of dead livestock. A copy of those guidelines may be accessed at www.aib.sd.gov.

On Monday, Oct. 28, teams of local, state and FEMA officials will begin assessing storm damage to public infrastructure and property of private, non-profit entities such as rural electric cooperatives in the 15-county area.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard will use the information from those PDAs to prepare a request to the President for a disaster declaration. If a declaration is granted, the federal government would reimburse up to 75 percent of the cost of damage to public property.

Counties included in the preliminary damage assessments are Butte, Meade, Perkins, Lawrence, Pennington, Custer, Corson, Dewey, Ziebach, Harding, Jackson, Mellette, Fall River, Shannon and Haakon, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

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