Collapse Sends Alcohol into Retention Ponds

Kentucky officials say the final collapse of a whiskey storage warehouse sent torrents of spirits gushing into retention ponds.

John Mura, a spokesman for the state Energy and Environment Cabinet, said Friday about 120,000 gallons (454,000 liters) have been captured in two retention ponds at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown.

Part of the warehouse came crashing down in late June. The rest of the decades-old structure collapsed Wednesday, leaving thousands of whiskey barrels piled in a mountainous heap.

The distillery owner Sazerac, a Louisiana-based spirits company, didn't immediately comment on the volume of spirits ending up in the ponds. The company has said it didn't know how many barrels could be salvaged.

Mura says testing has turned up no indication of waterways being contaminated by whiskey spilled in the second collapse.