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Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Greenskeepers work in a sand trap on the 18th fairway at the Blacksburg Country Club in Ellett Valley Thursday. A July 9 accidental chemical spill in the course maintenance area (behind fence) killed 10,335 fish in the nearby North Fork of the Roanoke River.

NEW ELLETT -- They were just trying to clean up a mess.

A 150-gallon spray rig that a worker was filling at Blacksburg Country Club overflowed, spilling a mix of chemicals and water onto a concrete pad near the club's maintenance building. The workers hosed the pad down.

Later that day, July 9, someone downstream noticed dead fish in the North Fork of the Roanoke River. The landowner called the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The DGIF called the Department of Environmental Quality.

The next morning, the DEQ sent people to walk the riverbanks. They followed the trail of dead fish that led to the country club.

"It started adjacent with Blacksburg Country Club," said Allen Linkenhoker, the pollution response coordinator for the DEQ's regional office.

It ended with 10,335 dead fish, including 169 Roanoke logperch. The federal and state governments consider the logperch an endangered species.

The kill was diverse, according to Mike Hutchison, a water quality monitoring specialist with the DEQ. Minnows, shiners, suckers, bass -- even 63 rainbow trout -- died along a 1.4-mile stretch of the river.

Water samples found a fungicide called chlorothalonil. Used correctly, chlorothalonil is relatively safe to people, birds and even bees.

Very high doses may cause a loss of muscle coordination, rapid breathing, nose bleeding, vomiting, hyperactivity and even death in people. Chronic exposure can damage kidneys. Skin and eye irritation are common.

But chlorothalonil is deadly to fish. It can also cause long-term damage to aquatic environments. Water samples turned up 1.4 parts per billion of the chemical downstream from the country club.

The initial phase of the investigation was pretty simple.

The country club's wastewater treatment plant was the first suspect, but it was operating normally. Then the trail of dead fish led to the maintenance area. Investigators looked for dead fish for about one-tenth of a mile above there, but found none.

According to the DEQ file, country club employees admitted someone was mixing chlorothalonil, another fungicide, a plant growth inhibitor and water in the sprayer. The worker walked away. When he came back, one of the chemicals, a powder, had congealed, blocking the opening into the tank and causing a spill.

The employee washed the residue away.

According to papers in the DEQ file, Tom Duetsch, the club's general manager, told Ryan Hendrix, a DEQ compliance inspector, the club was "starting to connect the dots and it appears it was caused by us."

The club began remedial efforts almost immediately. The drain pipe that led to the river has been filled with concrete. A silt fence has been erected along the river's edge. The riverbank has been seeded and covered with straw. There are plans to plant dogwoods or willows.

Perhaps most importantly, the club has put in a place to mix and load chemicals. A 15-by-15-foot pad with a 6-inch-high lip and a drain that leads to a concrete enclosed reservoir, it can hold nearly 600 gallons -- nearly twice what the club's largest spray rigs can hold.

But that doesn't settle the issue.

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is compiling an estimated replacement cost for all the fish. And there are the matters of the spill and the straight pipe that carried fluid into the river for decades.

The club has 10 days to respond to the notice of violation sent by the DEQ last week. Then a series of negotiations are likely to begin to determine just what the accident will cost the club.

"We are not clear as to the extent of the harm caused by this unfortunate accident and thus cannot say whether the fish kill reported was exclusively due to the accident or a combination of events," Duetsch said in a statement. "However, as good stewards, we accept our share of responsibility and will redouble our efforts to protect the environment within our control and provide the type of community experience our members and neighbors have come to expect and enjoy."

Linkenhoker said he checked DEQ records back to 1989. The club has not been cited with another violation during that time.