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City of Elizabethtown says Wawa gas spill did not reach city stormwater system

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Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said the city did not release information on a July 20 fuel spill at the upcoming Elizabethtown Wawa gas station because there was no imminent threat to the public and the incident happened on privately-owned property.

“It was under control,” Gregory said. “Our folks did a good job. We’re not the investigating agency. The state is, and we expected the state to cut a press release because it’s their investigation, or Wawa to cut a press release because it’s their business.”

Gregory asked staff with the city’s Stormwater Department to address the spill during Monday’s City Council meeting. A statement from Wawa released by the city states that the fuel spill “occurred during a routine quality test that was being performed by a third-party vendor/contractor.”

City Stormwater Director Rita Davis said 1,500 gallons of fuel spilled into the gas station’s private catch basin, which is connected to a 66,000 gallon underground detention system.

“We’ve been monitoring, checking the downstream catch basins to see if anything has left that Wawa site, and we’ve determined that nothing has left the site,” Davis said. It’s all collected into the underground detention basin.”

City Stormwater Engineer James Gray said the incident wasn’t reported because the gas never entered the public system.

“In the big picture here, it was about 25 bathtubs of liquid going into an area that holds 1,100 bathtubs full of liquid, so it was a lot of fuel, but there was adequate storage in the ground, nothing left,” Gray said.

Wawa said the grand opening of the gas station will be delayed to the fall to allow for full remediation of the site.

E-Town and Radcliff councils host work sessions

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The Elizabethtown City Council met for a work session Monday evening.

City Stormwater Director Rita Davis provided an update on work being planned for Henry Street. Davis said the city is in the process of acquiring 54 easements necessary to complete the work, and asked for the council’s opinion on lawn remediation for property owners.

“We’ve bounced around ideas as far as that can be part of the contractor’s responsibility to get that lawn restored to the end, or potentially doing a separate contract for a lawn restoration for a specific landscaping company to come in and take care of that,” Davis said.

City Attorney Ken Howard was asked to review the city’s requirements for public comments at meetings after a resident expressed concern with their address being improperly exposed if they were to comment. Howard recommended the policy be updated so that if a speaker does not want to give their name and address, they could write it down and give it to the city staff.

“That way we don’t have to worry about, ‘well, it’s a livestream and we can’t redact it,” Howard said. “It won’t be stated, and then it won’t be in the minutes later, at least not the address, so that we can control it in that way.”

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet August 17.

Also meeting for a work session Monday evening was the Radcliff City Council. The council reviewed updates concerning the city’s bereavement leave policy to better enforce the policy as intended and policies involving employee retirement to match state adjustments. The council was provided with recommended policy updates from the Radcliff Police Department concerning facial recognition technology and automated license plate readers. RPD Chief Jeff Cross was at a conference Monday evening but wanted the council to review the recommendations ahead of their next meeting on August 18.

Voter registration sees another increase in July

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Independent or other registrations saw a jump in July.

The Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office says voter registration saw a net increase of 4,981 voters in the month of July.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, Republican registration in July increased by 2,483 voters, while independent or other party registration increased by 2,530. Democratic registration decreased by 32 voters. Republican registration makes up 48 percent of the state electorate, Democratic registration makes up 41 percent, and independent or other makes up 11 percent.

The Secretary of State’s Office says 3,617 voters were removed from the rolls in July. 2,650 were deceased, 213 moved out of state, and 401 were convicted felons.

The deadline to register to vote in the 2026 general election is October 5. You can register or check your registration status by visiting govote.ky.gov, or by contacting your county clerk’s office.

New school bus law in effect for drivers in Kentucky

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With area schools back in full swing, drivers should remember a new school bus law is in effect in Kentucky.

“There is an amendment to the statute concerning school buses in Kentucky,” said Elizabethtown Police Department Public Information Officer Chris Denham. “Drivers traveling both directions are required to stop for a bus when the stop arm is extended, even on four-lane roads, unless the roadway is divided by a physical barrier or an unpaved median. This also includes drivers occupying a turn lane. I just want to encourage everyone to please slow down so the safety of children on the bus is not jeopardized.”

The EPD says under new law, if a driver illegally passes a stopped school bus and cannot be identified, officials will presume the registered owner or lessee was driving. This subjects them to penalties provided by law unless the presumption is rebutted.

Help keep school kids safe. When driving through areas with kids walking to and from school, slow down, stay alert, and watch for flashing lights.

KYTC accepting public comments on transportation project plan

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The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Draft Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan is available for public view and is open for comments.

The KYTC will allow for public inspection and comment on the plan through August 31. Any individual, agency, or organization may provide comments.

The plan includes all federally funded projects, creating a schedule for where the state expects federal funding to be committed over the four-year period. The plan contains state mega-projects along with local road and bridge projects. The plan contains links to Kentucky’s nine Metropolitan Planning Organizations, including Radcliff-Elizabethtown.

All residents of Kentucky that use the state’s roadways are invited to provide feedback. The draft plan can be found at transportation.ky,gov, and is available at each of the 12 KYTC district offices, including District Four in Elizabethtown.