Caustic Spill at Brewery Kills Refuge Fish, Frogs : Van Nuys: Diluted sodium hydroxide overflowed from a holding tank into Haskell Creek and the Sepulveda Basin, officials said. The incident was the second in 4 weeks.

Caustic cleaning solution leaking from the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Nuys flowed into the Sepulveda Basin wildlife refuge--the second such spill in four weeks--and killed fish and frogs there, state wildlife officials said Monday.

The high-alkaline solution was found Monday in Haskell Creek, which flows into the basin about a mile south of the brewery, said Curt Taucher, spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.

He said that although it was too early to determine the full effect of the spill on plants and animals in the 108-acre refuge, the spill did not appear to be serious.

“We never like to see fish killed, but it’s probably not too devastating,” he said.

The brewery confirmed that the spill had occurred and apologized. “We regret this incident occurred,” Earl Burke, Anheuser-Busch plant manager, said in a prepared statement. “We are in the process of making several engineering changes that will prevent this kind of problem from happening in the future.”

Haskell Creek is an intermittent stream that flows through the wildlife area into the Los Angeles River, supplemented by a flow of reclaimed water from the Tillman sewage treatment plant in the basin. The creek provides a habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife. It also runs through the brewery property, a city official said.

Another spill occurred Jan. 27 when 5,400 gallons of a cleaning solution of water and sodium hydroxide flowed from a broken pipe at the brewery into a storm drain that empties into Haskell Creek.

That spill, which caused no damage to wildlife, “was totally unrelated” to the incident discovered Monday, said Bill Martin, assistant plant manager.

This time, officials believe that diluted sodium hydroxide, which is routinely used in brewery cleaning processes, overflowed from a holding tank, Martin said. The solution then accidentally entered Haskell channel from a brewery storm sewer, Burke said.

Brewery spokesmen said the time of the spill has not been determined and the cause is still under investigation. State and city officials, who said the spill occurred north of the basin, said they did not know how much of the solution reached the creek and the refuge.

The spill was discovered about 7:30 a.m. by a city employee doing a routine, daily check of creek water, said Dick Ginevan, chief park supervisor for the Valley Region of the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department. The water registered high alkaline levels, he said.

The employee notified the Los Angeles Industrial Waste Division, which is part of the city Bureau of Sanitation, which investigates industrial waste. The division contacted Anheuser-Busch. Several agencies, including a county health department hazardous materials team and state fish and game wardens, took part in investigating and cleaning up the spill.

Anheuser-Busch hired International Technology Corp. to build a temporary dam in the stream to trap the cleaning agent, Burke said. The material will be pumped out of the channel into trucks and returned to the brewery, he said.

During the January spill, cleanup crews hired by Anheuser-Busch nearly sucked the creek dry, but puddles of water continued to show high alkaline readings. The brewery then flooded the stream bed to flush away residue of the caustic solution.

Burke said at the time that the company would consider constructing a containment system so that future spills would not flow into storm drains.

State and city officials said that the area will be closely studied in the next several days and that tests will be performed to determine water quality downstream.

Taucher praised Anheuser-Busch for notifying the state Office of Emergency Services of the company’s responsibility for the spill.

However, Taucher said the department would consider legal action against the corporation.

“We’ll have to look real carefully at what they’re doing up there,” Taucher said. “Obviously, we don’t want it to happen again.”