A spill outside the Wells Enterprises plant in Le Mars sent a mixture of diluted ice cream into a tributary of the Floyd River. Wells is the maker of Blue Bunny brand ice cream. Kathy Lee, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says the spill is blamed on “operator error.”
It happened early Wednesday morning as a worker was filling a tanker truck. “It was not ice cream,” Lee said. “It was a very dilute solution of sugar and cream, which is actually shipped off site as hog feed.”
About 1,000 gallons of the solution made its way to the river. Lee says the tanker overflowed and the solution ran into a storm sewer. The D.N.R. does not expect the spill to kill any fish or cause any other environmental problems.
The company was sent a letter citing them for late reporting. The D.N.R. asks that such spills be reported no later than six hours after the onset or discovery.