EDDYVILLE — An Eddyville business began cleaning up Friday after a spill at its plant in Monroe County took place on Thursday, the Department of Natural Resources reports.

Friday morning, employees at the Ajinomoto facility discovered a crack in a heat exchanger that was allowing fermentation “broth” to flow to a cooling tower basin.

An unknown amount of water and the broth flowed into a ditch, which empties into an unnamed tributary of the Des Moines River. The DNR was investigating the site Friday afternoon. The company itself reported the leak to authorities.

The broth is a potential danger to water quality and fish because of its high ammonia and pH levels, and high demand on oxygen in the water. As of early Friday afternoon, said the Iowa DNR, no fish kill had been observed.

Rodney Hamilton, interim director of Ottumwa Water and Hydro, said Friday afternoon he did’'t view the spill as a significant threat to Ottumwa’s water supply. He said the spill will be so diluted by the time it reaches Ottumwa that it is unlikely to pose any risks.

“I’m not real excited about it,” he said.

Ajinomoto uses the fermentation broth to create mono sodium glutamate (MSG), a food additive used to enhance flavor.

The Eddyville business has built two dikes to contain the spill and is pumping up the broth.

The state does have a network for informing water facilities of threats from industrial spills. Hamilton said that network was not activated in this case.

— Courier reporters Matt Milner and Mark Newman