Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

A Kentucky oil company faces a criminal investigation and possible $25,000-per-day fines for multiple environmental violations that have marred the local community, according to a report by Convenience Store News Online. Childers Oil Co., a petroleum vendor and operator of 45 convenience stores, is responsible for a serious oil sludge leak in November of last year and a diesel fuel leak February. According to government records, Childers Oil, which is based in the eastern Kentucky city of Whitesburg, has also been cited for at least 10 other violations since 1995.

The November incident occurred when oil waste from a Childers Oil facility permeated the Kentucky River just one mile upstream from the city’s water plant. Then, in February, massive amounts of diesel fuel were released from numerous storage tanks belonging to Childers. The diesel leak exposed area residents to contaminated water for a 10-day period, during which time the city could only warn them not to cook, drink, or bathe in the water.

The state’s Energy and Environment Cabinet filed a lawsuit against Childers Oil and a related company, Mountain Rail Properties. Both companies are owned by the same family. The attorneys have also asked the Franklin, Kentucky, Circuit Judge to issue an injunction that would bar Childers Oil from allowing any future petroleum leaks. A violation of the injunction would lead to the company being held in contempt of court.

“It is the personal right of the citizens of Letcher County to live in a safe environment and to have clean drinking water,” state attorneys were quoted as saying in the CSNews Online report.

Many area residents remain suspicious of the oil company after its record of environmental violations was released. According to Lexington Herald-Leader, the company’s violations include “improperly burning debris; improperly dumping construction waste, including construction debris; leaking or improperly registered and upgraded underground fuel storage tanks; sewage station overflow; and not filing correct monitoring reports.”

According to CSNews Online, an employee of Childers told a state inspector in one of the earlier cases that the company owner, Don Childers, instructed him to burn various waste materials with ‘used motor oil from the shop’ behind the Wal-Mart in Whitesburg. Childers told the employee not to make a big fire, and that he would run over the site with a bulldozer later.

The company’s owners, however, say that they are cooperating with the state and that litigation isn’t necessary. They also say they love their city and are proud to serve it.

Ironically, Childers Oil is sponsoring an event called “River Sweep 2009,” an environmental event held by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission to clean up area riverbanks.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 10:38 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.