Versailles, KY— Jim Beam was fined $600,000 earlier this month after the July warehouse fire sent a nearly 23-mile plume of alcohol into the Kentucky and Ohio rivers, killing fish along the way.
The distiller agreed to the fine in a Dec. 6 order from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. Jim Beam will also reimburse the state agency $112,000.
The fire started from a lightning strike at a large warehouse. The blaze sent flames shooting into the night sky that could be seen for miles and generated so much heat that firetruck lights melted. Roughly 40,000 barrels of aging whiskey were destroyed, with the runoff running into a nearby creek and headed downstream into the rivers.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources found dead fish along 62 miles of Glenns Creek and the Kentucky River. There were also dead fish in the Ohio River, but Energy and Environment Cabinet spokesman John Mura has described the impact there as “negligible.”
