Authorities say an accidental milk spill at a food processing business ended up turning a central Indiana creek white.
The Kokomo Tribune reports the change in the hue of Cicero Creek in Tipton was noticed on Tuesday and investigators determined that no more than 300 gallons of milk spilled from the Park 100 Foods plant.
State environmental officials indicate the spill wasn’t dangerous.
A creek in Indiana turned white following an accident at a nearby food plant on Tuesday
No more than 300 gallons of milk spilled into the Cicero Creek in Tipton, according to local authorities
Fortunately, state officials said the milk did not pose a danger to humans or wildlife nearby
‘As the [Indiana Department of Environmental Management] rep told us, milk’s not dangerous, it’s just extremely annoying,’ said Tipton County Emergency Management Director Chuck Bell.
Crews used hay bales to help contain the milk and a cleanup company removed about 14,000 gallons (53,000 liters) of a water and milk mixture from the creek.
Bell said the creek was back to its normal color on Wednesday after a clean up company was contacted.
Although the milk did not pose a danger to wildlife or humans, if the problem wasn’t addressed immediately it could have become a bigger issue.
‘By the time you get a heavy rain, it would just kind of filter back up, and you would get a milky substance for a while and a lot of phone calls,’ he said.
According to the Tribune, The Tipton Police Department, Tipton County Emergency Management, Tipton County Sheriff’s Department, Tipton Fire Department, Tipton City Waste Water, Tipton City Street Department, Tipton City Water Department, Cicero Township Volunteer Fire Department, Kempton Fire Rescue, Sharpsville Fire Department, Madison Township Volunteer Fire Department and Wildcat Township Fire-Rescue-EMS all responded to the scene.
Crews used hay bales to help contain the milk that spilled into the creek Tuesday
A cleanup crew was able to remove around 14,000 gallons of the water and milk mixture from the creek
‘As the IDEM rep told us, milk’s not dangerous, it’s just extremely annoying,’ said Tipton County Emergency Management Director Chuck Bell