Supervising Special Agent Marshall Stone with the Knoxville FBI office said he also couldn’t comment on the ongoing investigation, but said workers at Pilot Flying J’s headquarters were on the job Tuesday.
The company had the following comment from its CEO on its website.
“The FBI secured our headquarters today and informed us they are investigating Pilot Flying J. We will cooperate appropriately with any and all external investigations and conduct our own,” Pilot CEO Jimmy Haslam said. “I believe and trust there has been no wrongdoing. The integrity of our company always has been job #1.”
It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday how the action might impact Pilot Flying J’s plans to build a truck stop at Ohio 123 and I-71 in Turtlecreek Township.
The company’s site plan, which includes, a deli, trucker’s lounge, Wendy’s restaurant, a gas station and 94 parking spaces, faced intense scrutiny from county commissioners and opposition from neighboring residents who expressed concerns about the noise, crime, poor air quality and declining property values a truck stop would bring with it. They also said Pilot Flying J has not lived up to its obligations at other locations.
Some of those same residents were saying “I told you so” on Tuesday upon learning of the FBI lockdown. Tony Collins, the spokesman for the opposition group Citizens for Responsible Government, said he has been inundated with e-mails and phone calls since the news broke.
“I’m not sure how it will impact the project in Lebanon, but I hope it gives pause and concern to our local government leaders, if they have to enter into any agreements with them going forward,” Collins said.
Commissioner Dave Young, who was the lone “no” vote on the truck stop, said since he doesn’t know what the company allegedly did, he couldn’t comment. Young did clarify that he voted “no” not because of negative things residents raised about the company, but because he did not want a truck stop in that location.
Commissioner Pat South also refrained from speculating on what the future brings for the local Pilot Flying J, but said County Commission has ways of dealing with businesses that don’t comply with conditions placed on them.
“I think Pilot is just as capable as any other company of not always living up to what the conditions of approval may have been,” she said. “While I can’t find an example in my 20 years specifically, I know that our planning commission and zoning have brought to the attention companies who were not complying. None of them resulted in court action, compliance was ultimately met.”
Both Pilot Flying J — they don’t like the 24 conditions county commissioners placed on their project — and the concerned residents have filed lawsuits in Warren County Common Pleas Court concerning the commission’s decision on the truck stop site plan.
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