EXTRA CONTENT: Corbin Ice Company to pay $5,000 fine for 2008 ammonia spill

Read the entire text of the agreed order between Corbin Ice Company and the EPA by clicking here.

The Corbin Ice Company Inc. has been ordered to pay over $6,000 in fines and fees as a result of last year’s anhydrous ammonia spill at the plant located on Cumberland Falls Highway, according to an agreed order obtained by the News Journal.

Jeff Cummins, who is the Environmental Protection Agency’s Acting Director of Enforcement, said Tuesday that the situation was carefully considered before the fine was issued was, saying that the cost could have potentially been a lot higher.

"The minimum is obviously zero, but the maximum could have been $25,000 per violation in the case, which would have been $100,000 in all," Cummins said. "I think the circumstances warranted a greatly reduced penalty because they only had a certain amount of control in this situation, being that they were most likely the victim of a crime.

"In addition, the first responders would not let them in to the plant to shut the valve in question off, which they possibly could have done," he added. "In the end, there is the possibility that the situation could have been avoided, but we did feel the need to assess some sort of penalty in the case."

To be exact, Corbin Ice will have to pay a fine of $5,000 as well as response fees totaling $1,111.50, both of which are ordered to be paid within 30 days of the execution of the agreed order, which is listed as Aug. 4.

Corbin Ice Company Vice President, Jreg Botner, said he was pleased with the outcome and said he was very grateful for the way the situation was handled by the EPA.

"I really appreciate the fact they took all of the factors into consideration in this case with it being an attempted theft," he said. "I feel like they were very fair with us throughout the whole process."

In addition to the fine and response fees, Corbin Ice was also ordered to submit a written Best Management Practices Plan, along with a Groundwater Protection Plan withing 90 days of the order.

Botner said these plans are basically a summary of what the company has done to avoid this type of situation in the furture and how they would respond if it were to happen.

"Basically, I think these are plans of action against this happening again," Botner said. "We are working to get these done quickly."

Kentucky State Police Detective Colan Harrell said in April that he had treated the case as a theft from the word go. He said Tuesday that the case was still under investigation, but no breaks had come as of yet.

"We have checked into some things, but nothing has materialized as of yet," Harrell said. "Unfortunately, sometimes that’s how it goes, but we are still working the case."

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.