Corbin Ice Company to pay fine for 2008 ammonia spill

Kentucky Environmental Protection Acting Enforcement Director Jeffrey Cummins said Monday that a fine has been levied regarding an anhydrous ammonia leak at the Corbin Ice Plant in December of last year, but the amount of the fine will not be released until both parties have signed off on the deal.

"We have negotiated a penalty and it has been discussed and tentatively agreed upon by both parties," Cummins said. "It is still tentative, pending the approval of both sides and it may be a few weeks before it is approved.

"The drafting of the agreement is a rather simple matter, but getting the final approval is what takes a while," he added.
"In most cases, the agreement is upheld, but in some cases there are changes. We don’t expect any changes, but you can’t tell. As soon as it is finalized, we will make it public."

Corbin Ice Company Vice President Jreg Botner confirmed that the two sides have met, and even though he said he was unable to discuss the monetary amount of the pending fine, he said he felt that it would be minimal considering the case.

"We can’t really say a lot about it, but we have met and our attorneys have met," Botner said. "Our attorneys expect the fine to be minimal, based on our meeting and some things that were discussed, but we can’t really say a lot."

Initially, the leak was thought to be accidental, but since that time, Kentucky State Police Detective Colan Harrell determined that the leak was caused by an attempt to steal the ammonia from the holding tank.

Harrell sent the suspect valve to be examined by the manufacturer and was said to be in good working order. After that, the conclusion was made that the only way the valve could have leaked was by being tampered with.

"I have been working this case as a possible theft from the very beginning, so as for anything new, there really isn’t a lot to change," Harrell said previously. "Both valves are OK, which tells us that it was done intentionally and that it was an attempted theft.

"From here, we just have to keep moving forward," he added. "There are persons of interest in the case and that’s about all we can say."

At the time, the leak caused the evacuation of Corbin High School where the Cumberland Falls Invitation Tournament was scheduled to be held. The games had to be rescheduled for the following night.

The Heritage Nursing Home, Corbin Nursing Home and Baptist Regional Medical Center were also notified to close doors and windows and monitor the situation. Whitley County EMS and units from Knox and Laurel counties were also called in to evacuate residents, who were unable to leave under their own power. An emergency evacuation center was set up at the

Corbin Civic Center off Gordon Hill, the Corbin Recreation Center, Immanuel Baptist Church, and at Oak Grove Elementary School was also set up as an evacuation center.