MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) – A pipeline inspector will spend five years on probation, for causing a large jet fuel leak three years ago at Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport.
Randy Jones’ attorney had proposed a year in prison — but the Shell Pipeline Company said probation would be enough. And it would give the 44-year-old Jones a chance to start paying for over $19 million in cleanup costs from the spill.
Federal Judge Rudolph Randa of Milwaukee ordered the restitution, and agreed that Jones did not deserve prison due to his previous lack of criminal record, and strong family and work history.
Jones now works for another pipeline firm in Louisiana.
At Milwaukee, officials said he neglected to check the condition of a 12-inch pipeline that delivered jet fuel to the state’s largest airport — and then falsified data which indicated that the tests were performed and the line passed an inspection.
Jones told the judge he was overworked at the time, and he tried doing too much and failed. Randa said it was clear that Jones did not intend to cause the damage.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
