Officials call second spill “very well-contained” at Barton 1792

BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Barton 1792 Distillery was open for business as usual Thursday, even giving its traditional complimentary tours. However, there were are a few more visitors on hand thanks to the rest of the warehouse collapsing Wednesday afternoon.

Half of Warehouse 30 collapsed on June 22.

Those extra visitors make up part of the Environmental Emergency Response Team from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, or KEEC. The team has been on site since Wednesday.

RELATED: Rest of Barton 1792 distillery warehouse collapses in Bardstown

Warehouse 30 housed about 18,000 barrels. That first collapse almost two weeks ago destroyed nearly half of those. Barton is owned by Sazerac. The company said it's not sure how many barrels can be salvaged yet.

"This is the first warehouse that we know of that's ever collapsed just due to age,” Bardstown Fire Department Captain Todd Spalding said. “When the first half came down, you could see the left half bottom starting to bow out. That’s what it looked like happened, that the left side just kicked out and just brought the roof down flat.”

RELATED: Dead fish found in Nelson Co. river one day after bourbon barrel collapse

Bardstown Fire said the warehouse was built in the 1950s. Sazerac said a third party inspected the other warehouses and deemed them all safe. It couldn't secure the second half of Warehouse 30 due to worker safety concerns but took other precautions after fish were killed from spillage in that first collapse.

Crews made an existing retention pond deeper and dug an additional one to catch any bourbon. Both KEEC and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife said those moves made all the difference this time around and called the spill from second collapse “very well-contained.” KEEC's team is checking both Withrow and Beech Fork Creeks every four hours for the first two days after the incident. Officials said it usually takes 24-72 hours to see any effects on the fish.