Published: January 07, 2009 08:30 am      

KSP investigating ammonia leak

Police to determine whether criminal act caused leak

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Kentucky State Police interviewed employees of Corbin Ice Company on Tuesday to investigate whether something criminal caused the Dec. 30 ammonia leak at the plant.

KSP Det. Colan Harrell said officers were trying to ascertain “what happened here.”

“We have yet to determine if there has been a crime committed,” he said.

Police are looking into the matter because anhydrous ammonia, a common refrigerant and agricultural fertilizer, is also a key ingredient in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine.

Corbin Ice Company owners Jody and Greg Botner said the plant had a “string of thefts” of anhydrous ammonia in 2004, but the incidents hadn’t caused a leak of the dangerous substance.

“It didn’t get out (into the media) because we didn’t want everybody to know that we had it,” Jody Botner said.

During last week’s release, a mile-and-a-half radius around the ice plant was evacuated by emergency responders. Anhydrous ammonia is a colorless and highly irritating gas with a strong odor. When ammonia gas enters the body — by breathing or skin contact — it reacts with water to create the highly corrosive ammonium hydroxide, which can cause irritation, burns and in extreme cases death.

No injuries were reported following last week’s leak, but the ammonia was tied to the deaths of several hundred small fish and frogs in Bacon Creek behind the plant.

The owners and police are taking a good look at the ammonia tank’s valve, which might provide insight into whether the leak was caused by equipment malfunction, employee error or an ammonia theft. Jody Botner said the ammonia tank has a two-valve safety system — one must be turned first, and a second valve must be manually held open while the ammonia is released. He said equipment malfunction is possible, but unlikely.

“Our gut feelings on it, and it’s not a feeling, we know this, that someone, you know, opened those valves. Two valves don’t open themselves,” Greg Botner said. “But the valve is being sent to be tested... everybody’s looked at it, it’s been pressure tested here, it works fine, but we’re still sending it in to be tested just to be sure.”

Although tests showed none of the approximately 160,000 pounds of ice in the plant at the time of the leak were contaminated, the Botners decided to destroy it anyway. About $20,000 worth of ice is currently melting outside the plant.

The Botners said security around the ammonia storage system would now be “greatly increased,” but preferred not to say exactly what security measures would be taken.

Corbin Ice Company performs employee drug testing, and the Botners said during previous thefts, no employees were charged.