Barbecue Can Kill

BBQ sauce spills from Heinz plant into Muscatine creek
Associated Press - December 4, 2007 5:24 PM ET

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) - Fish received an unexpected marinade when barbecue sauce leaked from a ketchup plant into a creek in Muscatine.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say a malfunction in equipment at an H.J. Heinz Co. plant caused barbecue sauce to be sucked up a vent onto the roof and into roof drains that empty into the creek.

Officials say about 500 gallons of the sauce were spilled before the equipment could be shut down.

The spill caused the water in the creek to turn red for about a half-mile downstream to the Mississippi River. The water had cleared by mid-afternoon.

Paul Brandt, a spokesman for the state agency, says some fish were stressed by depleted oxygen levels and found floating on their sides.

Brandt says the investigation is continuing.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. Al