Kentucky – State to Fine Distiller for Fish Kill After Leak of Bourbon Warehouse Collapse

A state official revealed on Monday that the distillery owner of a Bardstown brickhouse that partially collapsed on Friday containing 20,000 barrels of Barton 1792 will be meted out a fine for what happened.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1,000 fish killed: Bourbon distiller given state violation notice for pollution after warehouse collapse<a href="https://t.co/VKczdwkSpa">https://t.co/VKczdwkSpa</a></p>&mdash; Lauren Jones (@LaurenWAVE3TV) <a href="https://twitter.com/LaurenWAVE3TV/status/1011563432255131648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Around 800 fish were killed by bourbon flowing into a nearby stream and river when almost half of the barrels in the Barton 1792 warehouse collapsed on Friday.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dead fish found in Bardstown river one day after bourbon barrel collapse <a href="https://t.co/zWc8fgBYso">https://t.co/zWc8fgBYso</a> <a href="https://t.co/5qwGnpqlta">pic.twitter.com/5qwGnpqlta</a></p>&mdash; WHAS11 News (@WHAS11) <a href="https://twitter.com/WHAS11/status/1010652525622710272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Bardstown Fire Department Chief Billy Mattingly said that half of the building collapsed length-wise and the other half was leaning and starting to bow on Friday. No one was allowed within 200 feet of the building.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">😬A warehouse collapsed today at Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown, KY. No injuries reported. Warehouse has capacity for approx 20k barrels, estimated 1/2 of warehouse damaged. It said to have been under construction and a number of barrels removed prior to collapse. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tragic?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tragic</a> 😥 <a href="https://t.co/1k2i5v2FnA">pic.twitter.com/1k2i5v2FnA</a></p>&mdash; The Bourbon Review (@GoBourbon) <a href="https://twitter.com/GoBourbon/status/1010220156163944449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2018</a></blockquote>

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John Mura from the Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet said the owner of the concerned distillery, Sazerac, will be cited for failing to report the spill immediately and more dangerously, for polluting the waters.

Mura said that the Division of Enforcement will decide what the penalties will be, but estimates are pegged up to $25,000 per day, per violation.

The problem with Barton 1792 is that they did not alert the state quick enough about the collapse and moved to stop the alcohol from entering the creek.

Now, the state is all out in supervising the clean-up. Mura said they are also continuing with the water testing. He estimates that the team will be on site for a long while, likely to take days, if not weeks to complete.

Mura also said that the state is still working to establish if land or underground drainage systems have been affected due to the spillage of bourbon. Mura added: "Even though the flow into the creek has stopped, they have to clean up what is on the ground and make sure there are no compromised barrels.”

The cause of Friday's collapse has yet to be determined. The exact quantity of the barrels ruptured, spilling their contents is not yet clear either.

Source:

http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article213798309.html

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