Cin-Air ordered to pay $90k fine for jet fuel spill

CINCINNATI – Cin-Air LP pleaded guilty and was sentenced in U.S. District Court today for violating the Clean Water Act by causing and mishandling a jet fuel leak in March 2019 at Lunken Airport.

The company was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $90,000 fine. As part of its probation, the company will provide training to all employees on spill prevention and cleanup. It will also publish a full-page acknowledgment of its conduct in Business Air’s FBO Today.

According to the plea document, on March 21, 2019, Cin-Air’s fuel pump at the Lunken Airport airplane hangar was inadvertently left running overnight after a mechanic refueled an airplane.

A safety switch called the “dead man switch” had been previously altered with a zip tie, causing the switch to permanently stay in the open position.

When Cin-Air employees reported to work the morning of March 22, they discovered the fuel pump had been running all night and leaking. It was estimated that more than 3,000 gallons of fuel had spilled from the pump during the night.

Cin-Air never notified to the National Response Center and waited approximately six hours before notifying the Cincinnati Fire Department. Before calling the fire department, company employees washed down the spill area with water into a nearby storm sewer.

Emergency crews traced the fuel spill to a cove of the Little Miami River. No jet fuel was observed in the main river channel.

Efforts were made to contain and clean up the spill, and it is estimated 1,700 gallons of fuel were recovered. Cin-Air contributed approximately $220,000 toward nearly $440,000 in cleanup costs.

“The defendant’s negligence resulted in a fuel spill that contaminated the Little Miami River, a tributary of the Ohio River,” said Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Lynn of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Ohio. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates that EPA and our law enforcement partners are committed to enforcing laws designed to protect the health of our communities and our natural resources.”

David M. DeVillers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jennifer Lynn, Special Agent in Charge, United States EPA criminal enforcement program;  Laurie A. Stevenson, Director, Ohio EPA; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Cincinnati Fire Chief Roy E. Winston announced the sentence imposed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie K. Bowman. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle J. Healey and Department of Justice Environmental and Natural Resources Division Trial Attorney Adam Cullman are representing the United States in this case.

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