ANKENY—A storage tank overflowed at the Air Gas plant on SE Creekview Drive in Ankeny over the weekend, sending about 1,000 gallons of lime slurry into a tributary of Four Mile Creek.
A construction company noticed the discharge of the milky white substance on Monday, and notified Air Gas.
Although the tributary was discolored, when DNR checked the creek Monday morning field tests showed water quality was similar upstream and downstream. There were no signs of dead or distressed fish, but the DNR recommends using caution if recreating in the creek.
Air Gas worked with the construction company to prevent more slurry from entering the creek and to dam it up below the Air Gas plant, pumping contaminated water out of the creek. An unknown amount of lime slurry reached Four Mile Creek.
The DNR will consider appropriate enforcement action.