FRANKFORT, Ky. – Transportation Secretary Joe Prather and Commerce Secretary Marcheta Sparrow today announced a halt to sales of aviation fuel at state park airports after Department of Aviation inspectors found water and contaminants in a fuel tank at Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park at Gilbertsville.

Contaminated fuel can cause an aircraft engine to fail during flight. Accumulation of water in tanks is common when too little fuel is being pumped.

“Our focus has to be on safety,” Prather said. “Bad fuel in an aircraft can mean disaster, and we will not take that risk.”

Sparrow noted that there is an airport with gasoline sales within 30 miles of each of the three state park airports. “The state park airstrips will remain open and will continue to be maintained by the Department of Aviation,” she said.

Kentucky Dam Village was the only state park still selling aviation fuel. Sales at the Lake Barkley and Rough River Dam state resort parks had been previously discontinued. 

The Department of Aviation is an agency of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet but has responsibility for the three state park airports under an agreement reached last year with the Commerce Cabinet and Department of Parks.

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