KENTUCKY -On July 2 a fire consumed two buildings on the Jim Beam property, those buildings housed 45,000 barrels or around six million gallons of bourbon. The runoff of that fire has contaminated the Kentucky River that is located close to the warehouse.
Since then a algae plume was created in the river from some of the run off liquids from the plant fire. Fire Department did let the warehouses burn to consume as much of the alcohol as possible. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has reported a substantial loss of fish and aquatic life due to this contamination. Here is the latest update.
“Yesterday (July 8) our Fisheries crews finished gathering necessary information to begin calculating the estimated losses of fish and other aquatic life following last week’s bourbon warehouse fire and associated runoff into the Kentucky River in Woodford County. Data entry and analysis could take several weeks.
A plume of oxygen-depleted water several miles long killed fish and other aquatic life as it traveled downriver. Our crews conducted counts from July 5-8, and observed thousands of dead and distressed fish from Pool 3 near Frankfort downstream to the confluence with the Ohio River near Carrollton.
The affected water plume is expected to dissipate quickly as it moves from the Kentucky River into the much larger and faster moving Ohio River. Residents and other observers along the lower Kentucky River and Ohio River downstream of Carrollton may see dead fish, which should decompose and sink within a few days.”
