Air testsshow

__ ,-·- -·----,
--···· ·- ---· .- --~-----:-- ··---.------.··- -

cancerrisks~-
. -- ----- ---- - ---

Unsafe·level·of pollutantsfoundin L:ouisviJie

··1
. . . ' . -

ByJAMESBRUGGERS
jbruggers@courier-joumal.com
TheCourier.Joumal
All13air-qualitymonitorsin a
Louisvill'e-areastudy recorded
concentrationsoftoxicpollutants
that overtime couldsignificantly
increasea person's risk of cancer
or other healthproblems,accord-
ing to an unreleaseddraft report
obtainedbyThe Courier-Journal.
The report, from an envi,ron-
mental consultingfirm, confirms
what the newspaperfound in its
independentanalysisof the same
air monitoringdata and publish-
ed last week:That atleast some
Louisvillearea residentsface ex-
cessivehealth risks from expo-
sure to hazardous air pollutants.
The draft report found 26
chemicals·or othercompoundsat
concentrationsthat exceedlevels
that the U.S.EnvironmentalPr.o-
tectionAgencyand localofficials
considersafe - for exampleone
additional cancer case in
1millionpeople.The report pre-
dictedthat amongthe monitoring
sites,therewouldbe between130
and 840additionalcases of can-
cer per 1millionpeople. · where in the UmtedStates,"said 'I
Risklevelsof that magnitude
would be among the h,ighestin orconsult~nttotheEP~sScience
the nation,saidMitchellSmall, an Advisory Board engineering
environmental~ngineeringpro- commi~ee since-1985,'.1Jld is an
fessorat carne~e MellonUmver- expert m the mathematicalmod~
sicy. Small asstStedthe newspa- . eling of environmentalquality.
per on its own analysisof the air · Theywarrant"seriousconsid- ·
monitoringda1aiu)d was told of eration by public officials," he
the draft report'sfindingsyester- said.
I
day.Hecomparedthemtonation- The consultantsfocusedtheir
al EPArisk projections. . attention _on-four compounds
"The cumulativecancer risks they said presented the'greatest
... in the Louisvillearea are at or risk:
abov.e the highest ,;,aluesprevi- • 1,3-butacliene,used in -the.I
ously estimated by the EPAfor ·· manufa~tureof syntheticrubber
hazardous air pollutants anr- ~
Small,who has been a memberof
 Gl.()SSARY OF CHEMICALS, COMPOUNDS.4ND THE.HEALTH
. . . . .
IRISKS
THll:Y POSE
. . . . . .... . -· ..
. . r.:.·: . .. . : -~'
:·. .
In its draft report, Sciences International identified 26 chemicals or other compounds at levels that exceed what the U.S; Environmental Protection,
: .,;,,} ..~ .
~g~~cy'~P-4JQc!il Qfficiii~sc(jnsMer safe. H
idtlmtiHedfour as main threats: 1,3-bntadicne, acrylonitrile, chromium and carbon teti;achloride, and seven others that it said presented the greatest health risk at i~dividual moiii!odng sites.
• • • • ~ • • • •"•• l •

1,3-butadiene 1,2-dichloroethene . Acrylonitrile Carbon . Chloro'torm Chromium Ethyl acrylate Formaldehyde . •N-nltrosodi-n- Perchlorethylene Mangane$e : .· : .. ;, .
Found in motor Mainly used to make Used In the tetrachloride' . . Used to make Us~d by various Used In the Used to make propylamine Industrial solvent Found hi emissions
vehicle emissions arid other chemicals. manufacture of acrylic Industrial soive'nt other chenilcais, Industries; manufacture of other chemicals, Produced by often us~d by dry •from coai-burnirigand.'/
used in manufacture Health rislc · fibers· and In making used by industry. and can be · lnciuahig metal . water-based building materials Industry l11small cleanj:lrs•. · used for various·
of synthetic rubber. . Possible cause of certain plastic and . Health risks . reli/ased into the plating, and · latex paints·and· and household· amount$ for · Health risks , industrisil purposes,, .:.
Health risks cancer in humans. rubber products. Can cause Jiv·er air as a by- reporteq in coal" adhesives, products and· research <!l']dused Possible cau$e oi' ' One form of the."',·''
Causes cancer in · Health risks and l<ldney · prodyct ~f . fired power plant . paper coatings also is a part of during·the . cancer In humans;:. compoµnd Is uijel})r· ..
people and has Can cause· damage and is chlorination of erriissions. and in the gasoline. manufacture of also associated · · the treatment of waste-
caused kidney and headaches, fatigue, classified as a wast~water and Health risks production of Health risks . some rubber
·product!!,
with headaches,:-· water. .
liver disease in nausea and probable cause drinking water. Its most toxic form aciylic fibers. Classified as a brain, nerve and .. 1-fe~lthrisk$ ,,, ,;, ..
animals. Can irritate weakness; has of cancer in · · Health risks can cause cancer· Health risk probable cause Health risks kidney d!=image.- While essential to life
eyes, nose and caused respiratory humans. Has Can cause liver In humans and Classified as a of cancer in Probable cause of in trace ;3.mounts,,.,.,,
throat. At high levels, system and brain decreased fertility and kldney · . has caused qlrth probable cause humans;-can cancer in humans; excessive'long-term .
it can cause.brain and damage in laboratory in animals: • damage and defects In animals. of cancer in also irritate the may harm the liver. exposure c<1nresµlt,in
nerve damage. Has animals; suspected of harm the central humans. eyes, nose and losses of visual ._,.,.,'.
caused birlh defects causing cancer in • nervous system · throat. reaction time, hand
in mice. people. Has caused leading to steadihess,. eye-hand
birth defects in rats.. depression and coordination and
irritability. libido,
_§Ol/RGE.S:FEIJl:flAL AGENCIES.UNIVERSIWOF LOUISVILLE

!

and foundinmotor vehicle emission~.'\
It's knownto cause ~;:mcerin people.At '·.
high levels.it can cause brain and nerve i
damage; and it has caused kidney and
liverdisease L, animals. · ·
·a Acrylonitrile, used in the manu-
facture of syntheticrubber.It's suspect,
ed of causing cancer in people,· · · .
mChromium, found in emissions
from coal-burners and possibly other.
industrialsources. Its most toxicform is
known to catisifcaiicer·in peop1ifafia-:T
birth defects ih animal11 .... ------~-- ... i
· Ill Carbontetrachloride, an industn~7
al solvent.The EPAhas classifiedit as_a \
probablehU1I1an carcinogen. · i
ALLFOUR were found in multiple i
monitors.The concentrationsin the vi- \
cinity _ofwest~rn Louisville'sRubber- I
town mdustnal complex were "not ,
-much different" from two sampling l
sites miles away used as reference i
points,accordingto theteport. The sin- i ting cancer as well as the risk of devel-
gle,highestoverall risk to public health i1
was fqUI1dat a monitoring:s_tationclos- 1
e~tto.theR,ubbertownchemicalcomp&-·,
mes,: '·.: ,:·_.. · ,, · · · : · ·. : ._ '· · · !
:'fhereport followsan EPAstudy last [
Octpber.thafranked Lou~'ville-Jeffer-.i
S?iiCountyfirst among 736countiesin /
eight southe_astern states .fot health :
risks from hazardous air pollutants. I
Concentrationsof at least fivechem- I
icalsin Louisville-areaair,includingbu- !:·
tadiene and acrylonitrile,were found to ·
be lOtol,000timeshigherthanwhatthe
EPAestimates as typical for·an urban
area, according to a separate analysis
for The Courier~Journal.reported in last
week's newspaper. - ·. · : ..
Public health experts contacted by
the newspaper $aid that, while the sci:
ence of risk assessment can be uncer-
tain, the public Should'pay attention to
the consultants' findings. · :. : · ·:.·
P.Barry Ryan, professor of environ+
me.ntaland occupationalhealthat Emo•··
-ryUniversityin_Atlant~i aweed; addin!f
t~atthe "relat1velyJugh co.ncentra•,
tmns,found at two schools -M.L.King :,
Elementa!Yand Gan!)_Run Elementary-'-_
. "shouldgiv~pause for concern;''. .. , l
.''Any.time you)1-ave chirdren in- t
volvedi people become mor.e con:,. ;
cerm;d;''..he said: That's because 'chi!, i
dren are more susceptibleto health ef- i
fects from chemicals,he added. · ._--.·. j
:Ryan,who llas studied air quality in· 1
Boston;Baltimoreand Atlanta, and is a i
consultant.toan EPAenvironmentalexa '
pos1frecommittee, reviewedthe draft;
report and recommended both addi- i
tiorial air.monito1ingin the Louisville ,
area and effo1ts to_control pollutants
found to pose the greatest risk.
~oth Marvin Legator, professor of .
environmental toxicology at the Uni- ,
versityofTexas MedicalBranchin Gal-'
veston, anci Elizabeth Moran, senior
tmticologistwitpjhe ;i\nieric,rn, Chernii;0
try Council;ia1yindustry:frade'.arid; fob~,
hying'orgariizatiori;.said the scieticeiti::
volvedin risk assessment can be highly ·
uncertain. · :pletedby mid-July,Williamssaid, add-
~i:"ir{j:-.
::..• -:•.:_~·~•.
·.Y{~••r - -~~- .•
'~~ · · Legat?rsai:lflt'1!ikelythatthereport • Some otb,erofficials, however, are
-- underesnmates-rrsk.'The.mote scien°
•· tists learn abo'ut chemicils/the more'
they find that.there ,:ire health effects,ii.t'
ever-smal\etexpdsures,. saillLegatoi,'
former chief of the'genetic.tcixicology
br~1:chof the U.S. Food and Drug Ad-
mm1strat10n,
"Thebottomline is thatwe shouldbe
e~<?sed to,,nothing a:tall that can be
efumnated. · •· ·
·But Moransaid the EPAoften makes •
ultra-protective assumptions about 1
what levels of risk are acceptable.With
butadiene;_she said, actual risk may be
20 to 100times lower th;m what the re~
pon:found. ,,
"They are predicting more risk than
you actuallyhave," she said.
. Based on as many as 3Lair sam•
plmgsbetweenMaY2000qt1d2001,the
draft report calculated the risks of get-
oping other.health pr.oblems,Jrom
rashes to reducedlung function to brain
Therisk le~ls
or ne~e damageat each of the monitor
sites. :- . . . · . · · .. ''areat ..
, The health risks were t_iedto expo-
sure over decad~s. The study pointed or abovethe'highesi
out that the readings showed no imme•
diaten_ ·sk_'fronishort-ti;rm,exposure.
val~esprevioitsly. . ___
_
State Sen; Gerald Neal, a Louisville
:pemocrat,wh()_helpedobtain funding
·estimated the:EPA·,
by
tl?r the study, said the problem
airpollutantsappears morewidespread
of toxic for hazardous dzr }\.<·
tha~ anyone thought< .
· It may be we need to expand air anyw!i2ft?
jf8ltilii/fits ,;,> .. , . -;'~ ,,·; • _•o• •
monitoring," he said, suggesting air
samplingbe done throughout the coun-
ty."This is serious)'· · •. · · :
..·Co:1-sultants from .the Virginia firm.
of Sciences International, who pre- s~art1ng~o_a,~k
for answers_rhlse9~ftJ:t~i
pared the report fortheWest Jefferson air momtonng results. State S.tmtNeal
COU!)-~CommunityTaskForce aridthe also said he wants answ-el:siabciu"h,
whetherpeopleactuallyliaveoi!'eii
sicit:\
Lomsv1lle. Metro Air Pollution,Coiltrol
District,are scheduledto visitfouisville ened from the exposures.· · . '/''"' _,·,·:
So does the LouisvilleMetro Health ;
t?da:Yand discus~ a summary of their
fmdmgs at a pubhc forum. ·· D,eIJartlllent,S?_idspokesman Dave ;
Land~on..He said the health depar:t~·
Arnita Gadson;,executive di.rector
for the task force, declinedto comment mentmtends to forwardJhemonitoring·
j on the detailsof the draft rc\port. . results to the.Agency for, Toxic Subs,
. But she said the results of the news" stances and Disease Registry,a part of; :•
.theU.S. Departmentof Health and Hu- r ·
paper's analysisand herpreliminaryre-
-vlewofl~-cfraftrepoffpreserif''a'cl'i - . man Services,for further analysis. ··.. ;
lenge to the entire communityif weare '
' to build on our.economic.base." It will ·
be hard; she said,for the Louisvilleinet• I
ro ar~a to attract. new busi~esses with I;
the stigma of havmg poor air quality.· ,
Art Williams,director-of the air dis- •
trict, declined to comment on the draft
untµ it is final.And Dave Patrick; over- '
s~emgthe studyfor the consultingfirm,
would only say that the draft is subject
to change followinga:technical review.
Membersofthetaskforceboardand.
a study advisory committee working
with Williams are· conducting that re-
view.Both panels haverepresentatives ..
from government, industry,the Univer-
sityof Louisvilleand neighborhoodand
environmentalgroups ..
THE FINAL report should be com~
mg that his advisory committeeand the
task force intended for the draft to re-
m~inconfidentialbecause it _mightcon-
tam errors. ·
Kenneth Mitchell, who directs the
EPA'sregionalrisk assessment groupin •
Atlanta, declined to comment on the
draft report.
 ALL BUT· two of the study's ail;·(
monitors were in western Louisville:::
Onewas·at Otter Creek Parkin Meade:
.·County;cl!1otherwas a,tthe Uni\'.ersity;
of Louisville's Shelby Campusm the,
EastEnd.U of:CsInstituteforthe E.nvi-L
ronmentand SustainableDevelopmenjj
has continuedmonitoringat six of the!,
sites sinceOctober2001. · · l :acrossthe.street from those monitors,
The toxic substances agency con~:
ducteda westernLoiiisvil).e studyin the:
late 1990s,condtidinginJ998that there:
wasn't sufficientenvironmentalmoni-:
taring to reach a ~etetmiri~tionabo_ut
Rubbertownpollutionand1tspotential .
linksto variousillhesses. . , : :.::: - ---- .... - . .years;
.· "Thelast time they_:wer¢ here; they!
sa!d tpey~eeaed more datat.¼1~~~9n)
said. Nowwe.havemore data. .., , ,
·•··Liz Natter,·an envirofup.ental a}tcir:
11,~yactive with the $ieri.~Glubin Ken"
tiicky,saidthe concentr11.tions. ofsev~ral
toxic compou_nds.l:!PPe~rto be h1gµ
enoughto mentqmck ac~10n.
"This data is enough to call for re,
ductionsin what is e:qtitted,"she said. .
· - Themost immediateactionneedsto
be taken.in the West End,whose res{.
dents for years have complained~pcm!
toxicpollutionwhilefew tookthem sec
nously,said MemeSweetsRunyon,ex- .
ecu~ve_direc!. orof_theconsetvation. or.,,I!.
gamzationRiverFieldsInc.•.. . .. ··.>..·
· . . But because elevatedlevelsof~ox1c/
pollutantswere four1dat all mo111tors, , · pdundsof e1TI1ss10ns
- ·includingtwo tha!ar~ farfromthe West.1 ...__ ...._ __.. •·.·•.inW0.0
End, shesaid toxicair seemsto be a re- .i
.·gional problem'... perhaps even in i·
· ·sotff 4~~cit~~ds ~d;ousands of\
Jivesare touchedby this;" shesaid:.The\
studyestimatesthe cumulativerisks at 1
eac.linoncancer
.of t.h.e mo
..nit.ors.
f·.o
r.both anc.er .\
and .illnesses. Thec.·study
comparedboth maximumprojectedex- .
posures and median exposu.res to ·
healththresholdsbeyondwhicheffects
wouldbe unacceptable. . · · . · 1
Forexample,the highestcancerris..k '\
fora maximumprojecteq.exposurewas
at oneoftwo monitorson CampGround ·
Road near Ralph Avenue;'across the i
street from a chemicalplantindustrial
·coinplex. The consultants calculated
that risk as 8.4in 10,000,meaningthey
would expect an additional.8.4 cancer
cases among10,000people. . ·
. · The lowest'cancer risk for a maxi-
mum projected exposure was in the
·East End, at the Universityof Louis-
ville's Shelby campus. There,the con-
sultants calculated·a maximumcancer
risk of 1.3in 10,000.
· They also calculatedrisk based on
the median or midpointconcentration
foundat each monitor- a lessstringent
measure of potential healthproblems.
Theseare thelevels whereroughlyhalf
•ofthe samplesfellaboveandhalfbelow.
· Evenat medianconcentrations,the ·
consultantsfound the risk of potential
health problems exceed what the EPA
wouldconsidersafe at allmonitors.
Risk of health problemsother than .
cancer- from rashes to impairedlungs :
to liver damage- are presentedin the
report as a numericalvaluerepresent-·•
ing howmuch greater is the likelihood
that a person would become ill from ·
these compounds.
Formaximumprojected exposures,
the cumulative risk at each monitor
ranged from slightly ab~ve health
·thresholdsto as manyas 10timesabove
them at one of the CampGroundRoad/
Rf).lphAvenue monitors. ·..·· _
' DonNeman;environmentalinanag-
. - er atthe Rohm.and Haas.Co. plant
cautioned that the report is based 9n ,
con1,ervativel).sstirilptions designedto .,
be protectiveof publichealth. . ·
.·.:° For example; h~ noted that.it as~
suJnes people would be exposed to ·
these chemicals24 hours a day for 7() .
andh~said that's unlikely... ··
.·.:. "Wedohaveseveralof the cl1em1cals ·
· ·· ·thatwereidentifie,d,'.'Nemanacknowl~.
·edged.'.'.We are ver.yfortunat~t~at we
_.are-~,. ~ln~r player)n the ennss1ons. of -··-----· --·--·--
those chemicals.", ·• • ..•.. ··•···
LAST· WEEK another Rohm arid · .
Baas officialsaid the report !ilightspur ·.
the companyto speed up installationof
· a bufadieneleak-detectionsystem. . ..
'.. ~.TheAmericanSyntheticRubberCo., l
·adjacentto the Rohmand Haas plant, .1.
·and byfar the largest industrialsource j'
btbutadiene in Jefferson County,had
"·not yet,seenthe draft report and could 1
.. ____·.,notconiinenton it, said its spokeswo-/..
·'rtu.i.n,:Nan·Banks. . ·· · · :·1
:k. ~~t_;~h,e s~g~estedUiatthe 160,000/
f~omthe company1
m~ytepi:tis.~n!JUSt ~.2percentof/,---
.a:11 butad1ene em1ss10nsm Jefferson,]
.......-:;;\i?:§itijfyf p~setj.on her_interpreta?;?n9.~,
",·nationaLEPAdata from 1996, , :'·.•; 1,1
··~;J~i~~~trytoaig~~ at.thi.swi~~ ope~J ..
··:1,M[Ilhams, hearrµistnct, smdtha..t
'?pplyirig.riationafaverages ~oa Pl'!'rti<;:
u1ar city canbeihaccurate.Hisager1cys
esfuriate,based on the most recent:\11~
formation availl!.ble, is that American
· Synthetic:Riib.beris·responsible fo;r I
. abouthalfto two-thirdsof allbutadiene · .
·emissionsJnthf county,Williamssaid;··•.
i{J~~~cJ;
··it~~t<>ftt:t!!~~~; s~ij, ~c-·.
·· _' tJ.s:Rep. Anne Northup,R-3rdDis-
trict, will await the fina~report before
commenting,saidher chiefofstaff,Ter-
ry Carmack.If the final r~portdemon-
strates. a problem, he said she would·
workv..ithofficialsto find a solution; .
U.S.Sen.MitchMcConnell,a Louis•
villian and fornter·Jefferson County
judge-executive,decl!nedto comment, i
said spokesmanRobert.Steurer.... . , . 1
Gadson,the task force executxved\-.
rector,saidthat consultantswill present
a summarytoday of the draft report's
findings,and will provide information:
on thosecompoundsthatw~refoundto ,
exceedhealtlithresholds. /
A panel of local experts is :;Jso,
scheduledto speak,she said. ·
 ..ill

' A ciraftreport analyzingthe're~ultsqf:rn.iin'itoring fo; hazarc;Jo:us. air pcillu.tan.ts ~h.o~(A

ariJncreased
, : .
risk of
. . .
cancer or other
-.
ill11e,ssesat13
•_:•?.•:
..:·:~::.,:_;:::::.:•:,;-
..
monitors:arqund
,
the·cominunity:"';·.,i
·, ~· ..·.. :, . · ; _: .._-·,; :
~ '.: ' : ·..o~r,~_,:_;_.·,l
:this chart .liststhe increasedrisk ofcr,i.r19ej"for 1T1aximum ·projectedexposures.at:;,.:,.;; J
. each.monitorand the particularchemicals·orcornpoundsthatpp§ethegr~a,tE,st,:':'"·,,;J·•··•
threat~.,.The. mon~orwith the highest incre·as~ctcahcer risk is li~tedfirst.Jh~:oth~rs,t;(;:. ·\ .
m
fol.low descendm~order.. .·.·. · ·• , . ( / ,Z · : • ·:, r : ... · .'<:" ·~, .'.7
a
. Estimatesof cancer risk are expressedas p,rpbability,such:as:1.'ihfO,OOO.:.Cc:io¢.?d
1
risk estimate.sare based onJhe assumptionthatpeopte arE3•.exp9sedtothe·chemicalp
or.con,pounds24 hours perqay over 70years.Jfc,,tinstance:Formonitor
........ 2 at Ralph,::::: .
Av·e·· nu €:!=1ricLCampground
.... Ro•?t..d, th.e.inc.rea·s· e...d r.i~.;~;'·fJ·
t maxi'f'l'lum.exppsure.\ivou.·1.d b..e~ ..;..:/,
an addItIonal8.4 cases of c~ncer among 10,09Q·pt3pple. , · . •· ·.· •· · ;: ,~?:
'.Risksfrom illnessesother'than CE\ncer are ~~pres.~ed as a hcµardquotient,Fora.::~;-; '
giventoxic compound, h~~m:J,,r-1uoth:mts bel<?.w J .~f~;_notlikely tqbe as;;,9ciated\Nitr,(
adversehealth effects,while numbersabovei1 showmcreased nsk; Formstance:Al'
monitor ? at RalphAvenueandCampgrqundJ~.oad./1h,e nonc~ncerJ!lnesshazard: ..,;;
indexfor maximumexposureexcEJeds the he.althttire.sholdbyTO times~ . . .. ··.·.,...,
. The.national backgroundcancer rate over yea.fa::is 70 2,195cases among 10,000;:;'.,'.
people, according to the Natio_nal CancerJn~titute. ·.··. _._ · . · ·.·.. <.:~:·
 OldLakeDreamland. ,{\4 iri 10,00ci
FireDepartment. ' it\;;

. Farnsley Middle 10,0Q0

);:2.~·-fr1
School
LouisvillePolice . •; '. i5 in 10,000 ·· Chromiurp;.~9rylq~~rile; ··.
firearmstrainingrange · ·· ·· · torrna:ld¢~yd~,·- ···· · ·
. 1,s7butadl!:)ne;
.
_ethyracry:,aie
.
·St.Stephen . 2in 10,000 Chromium:·.'.:''! 1,$-birt~diene, --~;;-::·:;Jt
BaptistChurch fomialdehyde, . , . Jorrnal~ehyde

ChickasawParkarea. {~ h):10,000
~~:=~#{;•
Chloroform;\\, 1.4
manganese·--·,.

1,3~butadiene, ,,,,,,;
-.<:4,
(residence)
. perchlci@tti0ene, acrylonitrile;,
· ,;:;·;:,·
1,3-butadfene, . ·1' 2-dichloroetneneF
. . .. ·:.A)•\·:,
·
acrylonitrile· ,.,
·.1·s~butadiene. ,,,,:c.
i:l/
7unElementary_ .1.4in10,ooo· !~3J~~t~[t~t,}}: . 1.4
-·•.'__·t;".:
·:;:
~~~~
0 ·.a~ryJ~~itrile_

ML King ,/:(Jin 10,000 1,3-butadMh;Jtr:~;r

.
Elementary
School· acrylor,ltriJe,
' ;:, -__i :"
--'-------'--'-----'-'--'---ca_rb_o_n-'te_,.,_tr_ac_h_lo ___ '._,'·--------------------'--"----'--'-'-'"'----'--"-'-~--T,
ri...;.qe-'-'

NewuikeDreamland. 1.3ln 10,QOO 1,3-but~dlehe./:, 1;3-btµadh:~r,e

.·FireDepartment
.. . acrylonltrile;'
,\·'_.,,
. chloroform
1.4 in 10,000 . N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine,
Un,likely-.. ·
~~~:~~ne-~;'Yt:)}t'
·
·:universityof'Louisville 1.3in 10,000 Chromium,'. '
chlorofonh,,'
. _,
'";}\\L.,
ynlikely
Shelby_
Campus
formgldet,yde;:
•...,,
1,s-but~ci,iepe/
·•
-SOURCE:SCIENCESINTERNATIONAL
 :e~llution:A proposal
F~~~~b:tg_
.
strategit·s-t<it
offers... aCtiOn: . . ·,.· , .. ·.· . · .. '" . .

ByJAMES
BRUGGERS
jbruggers@courier-joumal.com
· ..shang~ ·they use o;mod-
the ma:t~rials
TheCourier-Journal
1 -···
ify their yroces?~sto reduce pollution;.
. II Usmg political pressure to enter ·
' Adraftplanfol' addres;ing elevated mto so:called.'.'good.neighbor" con- ,
levelsof hazardousair pollutantsiden- tractswithbusmessesthat promisevol- ;
tifiespotentialstrategiesfor action.. : untary pollutionreductions, , ...• .... i
The unreleased proposal; obtained . : JI Providingloans,Joanguarantees, I
by The. Cou_tj~r-Journal, represents,) tax breaks or otherfinaricial•incentives .i
howthe LowSVIlle MetroAir Pollution : .. to·encouragebusinessesor individualsI
ConqolDistrictand the WestJefferson·1 to redu~etheir air pollution:.; : . .: •.• i
County CommunityTask Forcei;ould"L. Arnita Gadson,.executive director i
respondto elevatedlevelsof toxicpol- ..of the WestJeffersonCommunityTask [·
lutantsJn the air. .·•.. •.· 'e : · Force,.sitidthe draft iisk mamigemerit!
· ·It calls for disco\)'ering, th~~soui:ces
of. any toxic pollutants above hefilth ___ _
plan needst9 offermore.specificdirec-
tion..and likely Y?fil change..."It· needs !
;·
thresholdsidentifiedin a final risk as- more meat,"·she said: .. ·.• ..· •·•··._·..•_.· i
- _3 e~slll~J!! dueto_l>~_~e!~~ed '!'he
iilJl:flY: .·•Art Williaqis,one of the authors of!
,t~e . . ,,s.~Wll~will
., j_r_aJtpl~h, .consider
·,·<:··.· -.. ..,,,
..,...,~, rec- I
..·~:c·:.:···-·•1
plan callsfor e~vironmentalofficialsto
red.uceany toxic emissionsto safe lev-. ommend_atJo~s iroiu
when he receivesthem. ,. .'· :• · · .1
th~t~i~.f~rce ,
els. ·. •.
· . ·A draft ofthe risk assessmenfideri~ , .It won'tbe•~ar9, t~Jdentffy~timeof. •
t~ies 26 such compounds, but high- , __ the ~9urcesofsom~of.the•themicals>.' .
hghts four as presentingthe most risk: i . Pollutioniiiveny>iies,for example; :·
1;3,qutadiene,acrylonitrile,chromium! _ clearlyshowthreemdustrial sourcesof '
and carbontetrachloride. ·: l,3~bu~adi_ene ih _Jeffers,on\C_oun:ty. i ···
, . •·~opg the.strategies identified to i Computer modeling can determine :
ho.wmµch comesfrom. motor vehicles.·:'- - --
·deal'Wifl1..~t~vated' h~~otis 'air pollu~I Williamssaid :,· ' , · '·. ..,.· · '.:
tants.are:·,.·'> , .,;:. ,:.,: .: ·.:t':,. ·.· ,
II Continue<i air monitoring. .. : -::m1t other;r, su~h a~ carbon tetra- !
... llt C:pn~uctirtg public health studies l chlorid~,will ~e-mo~l:9fi( challenge...· /
to detefI!U11e whethe~toxici;:oinpoundsi No mdustrtalfacilities m·Jeffersoil•··
ar~ makingpeople $ICk,·.. ..·. ., · . l •<::oun!Y repo~ed,.anyemissi_ons ofthe/
.· ·• Forcing industrial sources to re- i chenucal.to.either.the federal govern•,1..
duce emissio~ of certain compounds.L.. mentor the local.airdistrictin 2000•the,
latesty~arfor whi ..:en.emissionsrec~rds1.-·
~.!l!~~~ ~~o-~t:i?n·~f ~~"'.r~~ap~ns,J are available.. . . , ,~·--.-·
,----·-···--·•-·--.:.....:,.:_ .'·.
· · · · ,_;..
. .. ·.· ·· ·•·.. •·
·, . " ' " \ •.: ,. •;

thi
'

.. Many industries stoppea tising

0
· II Conducting a.public bduca:tion:
camp_aig~ on how.in~viduals·may be .•
contrtb~~ to toxic air pollution,such i
as by drIVlllgpoorly maintainedmotor
· vehicles. ·
IllMakingsure ~at industryunder- ;
stands the potential health problems :
causedbythe pollution;with the goalof i
voluntaryemissionscuts. • partner in the air study and a member •·
IllUsing experts, such as those at ·.
the Unrnersityof Louisville'sKentucky··
P_o~1;1tion
Preve1.1tionCenter,to help fa-
c1hties determine whether they can
solventyears ago because of concerns
about its effectson human health and
itwaslargelybanned as of Jan. I, 2000,
under terms of the MontrealProtocol ·
an international treaty that seeks t~
protect the Earth's ozone layer..·
The. carbon tetrachloride• fumes
maybe.comingfromcontaminatedsoil,
accordingto Russ Bamett,director of
r~se~tch f~r the University of Louis-
v1lle.s Institute for the Environment
,and Sustainable Development,a key !
of a committee that drafted. the risk
managementplan. "There shouldn'tbe,
anyoneusing it." '
 SUNDAY,JULY13, 2003 ·
-~----------

II ·Ill

I I

'

· . . · .. .. • BYPAMSPAULDING,
THECOURIER-JOURNAL
Industrialsources,includingFord's KentuckyTruckPlant,are part of the reasonfor Louisville'scontinuedpollution,despite
technologicallyadvancedpaintingmethods.suchas these. · · · · .· .,
 SOURCES OF SMOG ..CAUSING EMISSIONS
(for Jefferson ~nd adjacent portions of Bullitt and Oldham counties)
Hazardous
VOU\TH.E
ORGANIC
COMPOutUJS NITROGEN
OXIDES
. 211.22tons per summerday,
em1ss1ons
116.44tons per summerday,

Off-road$ources:
% of total
Off-roadsources:
% of total ··
on the increase
(constructionequipment, (constructionequipment,
farm equipment,aircraft;. farm equipment,aircraft, ByJAMES
BRUGGERS
· boats;locomotives,lawn jbruggers@courier-journal.com
' ·mowers,etc.)
. ;Js;noris . Theqourier.Journal

Industryin the Louisvillearea releases

millionsof poundsof pollutantsintothe air 1
each year. . . . . [ ··
· Andamidnew evidencethat toxicair is
puttingresidentsat increastidrisk,a special
report in today's. Courier-Journalshows
whatandhowmanyemissionsare goingup
industry smokestacks. and
out leakypipes. · .
For some chemicals, the
news is good: One umbrella.
category of emissions
tracked by a federal agency
decreased 39 percent be-
tween 1995 and 2001. And
one group of smog-causing
compounds dec;reased 60
· percent between. 1988 and
2000.
But.asseen in the newspa-
per's analysisof three environm:ental data-
bases, for other categoriesof air pollution·
that can cause serious health.damagethe
newsis not good. . ·· .
For example,total emissionsof l;lazard-,
ous air pollutantsin JeffersonCountywere I
on the rise from 1998through2000.Indus- i
trial emissionsoftiny bitsof sootand other :
BYPAMSPAULDING,
THECOURIER-JOURNAL particulateshaveincreasedsharply.Andin- I
Bourbondistilleriessuchas.Brown~· dustrial emissionsof sulfur dioxidewere .
FormanCorp. are exemptfrom con- higherin 2000than eightyears earlier. ·· ··
trollingthe pollutingvaporsthat are The disclosurecomes in the wake of a .
releasedfrom caskswhileliquor ages neighborhoo(lair monitoringproject that ·
in warehouses. revealedrisk levelsfrom hazardous·pollu- •
tants that are as high as or higherthan the · ·
EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyhas esti-· ··
matedfor anywherein the country. ··
The sourcesof pollutionare not limited
to w;est Louisville. They are scattered '
throughout the county. The newspaper's '
analysis of the pollution inventories ·
showedthat the largestsinglesourceof in-
dustrialair pollutionis in SouthernIndiana,
at a coal-firedpowerplant. ,
The newspaperalso.foundthat the fed-
eral EPRsToxicsReleaseInventoryranks
JeffersonCountyfirst in Kentuckyin total
pounds of pollution - 9.9 million-re-
leased in 2001,and that nationally,Jeffer- i ·
son Countyranked 23rd. . .
These pollution yardstickswill play a
key rolein determiningwhetherthe Louis-
villemetroarea fallsoutofcompliancewith
new federal health-based smog and fine •
particle pollution standards. If it does, it
couldbringpotentialeconomicrestrictions .
and forcedpollutioncontrols.

Peol)leand econ_orfiy1
at risk in the region· '
ByJAMES
BRUGGERS
jbruggers@courier-journal.com
TheCourier-Journal
Despite decades of fighting poµution,
Louisvillecontinues to struggle :withbad
air. . ' . hood air monitoring project has revealed L
Whilethere have been notable success-
es ·Louisville-areaindustries still release
millionsof pounds of emissionsup smoke-
stacks·and through leaking pipes, raising
concerns not only about human health but
also about the future economy of the re-
gion a first-everanalysisby The Courier-
Jou~al of federal and local pollution re-
cords shows. · . ro Air PollutionControl District.''Wedon't :
Yearlyreleases of some types of indus-
trial pollutants in Jefferson Col!ntyh~ve
sharply decreased, but_others, mcludi1:1g
those that contributeto cancer, heart dis-
ease and asthma, appe~rto ~e on th_eri~e,
accordingto the analysisof air pollutionm- .
ventoriesby the newspaper.
"Weknow there is an unhealthylevelof i
toxic air pollution being emitt~d in this
county,"said Tom FitzGerald, drr~ct~fof
the Kentucky Resources Council. We
know it comes from the big smokestacks.
We know it comes from the tailpipes ~f ,
cars. Weknowit comesfrom smaller (busi- :
ness) sources." . . :
By one yardstick - an mventory of ·
smog-causingvolatileorganic co1:1pounds
- industrieshavemadea marked lillprove-.
ment. The total amount of this categoryof
pollutants released into the air between,,
1988and 2000was reduced by 60 percent, •
reflecting millions of dollars successfully .
spent on environmentalcontrols.
But for other types of air pollutants,
yearly relea~es~ave c~anged little or are
now increasmg mcludmgdangerous par-
ticulates and h~zardousair pollutants that
put people at increasedrisk of serious ill-
nesses,the newspaper'sanalysis found.
II
I
II
Ford'sKentucky·
I TruckPlant in
2000 produced
1.8 poundsof
hazardousair
pollutantsper
truck, down
from 5.8 pounds
in 1993,said
·. spokesman
. DennisKarl.
-~----Allofthis matters becausethe iou1~e /
metroarea willlikelyfall out of compliance!..
with new federal health-based sm~g ~nd !
fine·particlepollt!tionst?n~ards, brmgmg :
potentialecononucrestn~t!onsand_forced i
pollutioncontrols.In addition,a neighbor-i ..
.risk levels from ha~ardous pollutants_that 1
are as high as or higher than the E1:1vrron- 1.
mental Protection Agency has estimated f ··
for anywherein the country. . :
· '½s new health studies come out, we !
continueto findthat there is no s~feleJel ?f I
exposureto many of these cheffi!CllfS, said ! -
ArtWilliamsdirectoroftheLomsvilleMet-\
knownearly as much as we need to about 1
the cumulativeor additive effects of these
chemicals,even if all of them are in the air
at legal levels." .
Whileindustry representa~ivestol~ tpe
newspaperthat they don't believetheir m-
! dividual plants are putting the public at
risk, some have already pledged.voluntary,
reductionsthis year. ·
.._ "We'reloJ}ltln_g_at what else~ can do,"
said Don Neman, environmen:talmanager
at the Rohm and _HaasCo. chemicalplant
on Camp Ground Road in western Louis-
ville'sRubbertown.
The newspaper's study of emissionsre- :
cords showed that the largest industrial
pollutersare Ohio Riverpower plants,two
of them owned by LG&EEnergy and one
by Cinergyin Indiana, along with a com-
plex of Rubbertownchemicalmanufactur-
ers.
Other facilities- from bourbon distill-
eries to cement makers to automotiveas-
semblyplants - located far from the city's
industrialWestEnd are also major sources
ofpollution,accordingto the EPAand met-
ro air district emissions data.
 To devefopits air pollutionprofile, the
newspaperanalyzedthree sets of data. The The SO most
first was the federalToxicsReleaseInven- Kentucky's
tory,require.ctunder the EmergencyPlan- _polluted 10worst
ning and Rightto KnowAct.It contains in-
formationon releases of nearly 650 chem- r counties in
icals and chemicalcategoriesfrom indus~ Jefferson
. 9,941,608
tries such as manufacturing,metaland coal theU~Se .· Muhlenberg 6,693,748
mining,and electricutilities. The circles indicate Lawrence 5,319,518
·
Congress intended the inventoryto let relativequantitiesof air Carroll 4,650,116
communities know how much and what Mason 3,572,819
kindof wastes companiesreleaseto the air, emissionsin counties Marshall 3,488,949
land and water each year.It's availableon reported to the U.S. Hancock 2,857,019
the EP.Ns_Website at www.epa.gov/tri· · EPAfor its ToxicsRe- · Mercer . 2,612,146
Tapping into the TRI, the newspaper
has found that Jefferson County ranked lease Inventory. The· Daviess 2,481,482·
first in Kentuckyin total pounds of pollu- listsbelowareshownin Pulaski 1,785,366
tion - 9.9 million- released in 2001,the poundsof emissions.
latest year for which data were available.
Nationally,Jefferson Countyranked 23rd. Person, N.C. 28,078,514
TheEPAmadethe 2001pollutioninventory Hanis, Texas 21,159,401
available.to the pµblic June.30. · . Armstrong, Pa. 19,778,000
By comparison,Jefferson County.TRI Baltimore City,Md.18,311,656
emissionswere more than four times those Bartow, Ga. 16;613,789
of Indianapolis-MarionCounty and more · Escambia, FL 14,536,817
than five times higher than those of Nash- Marshall,W. Va. 14,423,912
ville-DavidsonCountyin Tennessee. · · Tooele, Utah 14,379,882
Accordingto the TRI, the largest single
. industrial source of..pollutionin the five- Jefferson,Ohio· 14,238;546
cotintymetroarea on both sidesof the Ohio Monroe, Mich 13,879,612
River is Cinergy's Gallagher coal-fired Catawba;N.C.13,772,912
power plant in New Albany,just upwind Hillsborough, Fla. 13,120,121
from Louisville.. Ascension, La· 12,995,295
It pumpedout 2;9millionpounds ofpol- Stokes, N.C. 12,347,259
lutants in 2001.That is nearly twice what Humphreys, Tenn.12,332,303.
LG&E'sCaneRun and MillCreekplants in Adams, Ohio 11,960,696
JeffersonCountyemittedcombined. Citrus,Fla. 11,413,532
"Oh,man, it just billows...:_
especiallyin Putriam, W.Va. 10,504,929
the.summer," said Derrick Miles, a West ·
Louisvilleresidentwhose son suffers from Gallia,
Ohio :10,441,907
asthmaand other lung ailments. Washington, Ohio10,437,735
Cinergy officials'downplayedany con- Mobile, Ala. 10,392,692
cern about toxicemissionsfrom Gallagher, Colbert;Ala. 10,381,248
and note that they have in recent years in- Jefferson, Ky. 9,941,608
stallednew burnersthat emitless nitrogen Jefferson,Texas 9,683,304
oxides- a smog-causingpollutant not in- Shelby,Tenn. 9,650,639
. eluded in the TRI. . .. Greene, Ala. 9,227,090
"Theplant is in compliance,"saidAnge- Lafourche, La 9,143,310
line Protogere;Cinergyspokeswoman.· . Wayne, Mich 8,898,889
Indiana regulators acknowledge the Greene, Pa: 8,756,659
company'semissionsare within their per- Grimes, Texas 8,454,776
mitted limits.However,Gallagherhas been
the subject of a Justice Department and Monroe, Ga 8,389,937
EPAlawsuitallegingthat Cinergytook ad- Gaston, N.C. 8,372,682
vantageof grandfatherclausesin the feder- Mason, W.Va. 8,051,263
al regulations and made plant improve- Brazoria, Texas 7,591,325
ments without adding necessary pollution Duval, Fla. 7,463,729
controls.The companyhas been negotiat- Hopewell City,Va 7,389,462
ing with the EPAsince it backed out of a Heard, Ga 7,365,689
proposed $1.4billion settlementinvolving Cameron, La 7,316,791
_Gallagherand five other plants in .Indiana Richland, S.C. 7,313,768
and Ohio. - --·-· - · ·- .
Berkeley, S.C. 7,263,603
"Thereare a lot of thingsout there in Gibson, Ind. 7,262,138
our everydayworld that are of much Vermilion, Ill. 7,096,175
greater risk than· anybody ever·gives
any thought to;" said Bob McElfresh, Hamilton, Ohio 7,074,059
principal environmental scientist for Ottawa, Mich 6,949,589
Cinergy."I am really comfortablethat Cook, II. 6,933,450
we are not creating a health risk for Putnam, Ga. 6,895,014
peopledownwindfromthese facilities." Charles,Md 6,807,092
Muhlenberg, Ky. 6,693,748
E.Baton Rouge, La 6,641,481
Allegheny,Pa. 6,634,364
 COALAND CHEMICALS
Businesses question
reality of hetalth risks
.Jn Jefferson County,.the DuPont
chemicalplant·in RubbertoM.iJppped
the TRI list in 2001 with 2.7 million
pow.ids;upfrom 2.i millionpounds in
2000,or 29 percent. It was followedby •
·1G&E'sMill Creek plant, at nearly 1
millionpounds, down 33 percent from
1.5 millionpounds in 2000;American
Synt:J:ieticRubberCo.,970;000pounds,
downfro:tn1.2millionpounds.in2000;.
and Ford Motor Co.'s KentuckyTfuck
Plant on ChamberlainLane, at 957,537
pounds,up from 825,847in 2000.
DuPont plant manager Mike San,
chez said most of what his company
. emits isn't very harmful, and his plant
has littleec<>noajc~centive to pollute.
"If we couldkeep allthe (rawmate-,- -- ..,., ,,ed to small btisines_sessuch,as dry 1 ..... ..
rial)in, we'd liketo ~o that," he said/
"Thesfuffisn't cheap.'~ · .·. .., ,·.,' :
· , · Caryl Pfeiffer,an LG~E?~nergyex-'
ecutivewho was the company'saitec
tor. of environmental·affairs until re- ,
cently,criticizedthe ToxicsReleaseIn~ ------ -. " 1ca. .
ventory because it does ncit:agc;lress
health-riskS;which she said are mini-
mal from power plants;· i , •, • -;.
"Wehave large n1,1mbers, because
we burn a lot of coal " slie'said.. ·•··. ·
·•·· The coal-burning power plants in
the region, however, are sources of
chromium- a heavy metal ideI1tified
recentlyin a draft report asone of four
compounds that pose excess risk to
Louisville-arearesidents.
Williamsdefendedthe TRl, callingit l·
a "directionalweather vane" that lets
regulators and the communityknow
how much of what each company
emits,and to identifytrends overtime.
Public disclosurehas prompted some.
companiesto· reduce their emissions,
Williamssaid. · ·
That is reflected, he said, in the
newspaper's findings that overallTRl
emissions are declining .in Jefferson
County. .. . t\
For example, when looking at the
collectionof industriesthat were origi-·
nallycoveredby the. inventory,and re-
leases of a core group of pollutants
. identifiedin 1995,air emissions.drop-f
ped 39percent overseven years.····•. !
Thistotal includesthe lion'sshareof,
allTRl air releasesin JeffersonCounty,I
· but does not include its power plants,'; ·
which weren't.requiredto report their:,
emissionsuntil 1998.TotalTRIair emis-,
sionsfor JeffersonCountywere report-;i
ed to be 9.9 millionpounds in 2001,a 9 ,
percentdeclinefromthe previousyear, ·
This figure dwarfs total reported/
TRl emissionsin Floydand Clarkcoun-,
ties in Southern Indiana, and Bullitt!
,andOldhamcountiesin Kentucky. !
Though Toxics Release Inventory
data are based on industry self-report-
ing, EPAofficialsscrutinize company,
submissionsbefore makingthem pub-
lic, said Ezequiel Velez,the agency's
TRl regional coordinatorbased in At-
lanta.
.. ·The inventory,he said, has "empo-
weredcitizenswithinformationto hold
.these facilities accountable for how
they manage their waste/' .
01Hren POLLUTANts
·...
Some substances. a' •••• '
.areon increase
......
the
BuiTRI isjusfone\Vaytorate'indus~
try performance,,. •' ' ''' ' ' '
The newspaper also examinedtwo
sets.of metro air district records con-
. taining inventories of .several pollu- ;
tants for whichthe EPA};lasrequired '
controls.It made them availableto.the
newspaperuniler,a::Kehtuckyopen re-
• cordslaw request, . . .
-~,<L. Tllese inventpries,.currentthrough .
· ·: 2000,h'a,clcca~~g?rJ.es of.ajrborµ~sub- j
. c,,.;)..stances ~at P¥tlcf!IarlyJ11ake arr un~ i
.:;healtl,ly,.m~luding:_,. _ . , :. ,:>., .. l
..Jc;"1; ... 11qrouna )e:iyelqz_on~,produce~ I
.,,,~?;:Jargely .by eJll#!Slo~ft<>.m. µiotor1:ehi-.;--··
, ;;;;;:,cles,coal~bill11l.µg,, an,d. :vapors.attribut~/
.,;:;~:;:.c!~*e:i:s ·.~cf,ga$. sj~ti~ns.: :Oiorie i.sa I
_..,7.~?:keycmi;ippn~nt ?fS,~~r,,s.mog. . · ..,,........
'!:'\- , Jil!IMj.c:r-0scop1c.particles from diesel 1.
J
¢
0 ,
. .:,_,
c~~•~,.effi~1.1st,)~~~Fb,ajl@g ~d 'eV(:)Il, forest
-·,.:zi:/if(:lS Jrolll,~.far_~vrai:as?outh,.J\.mer-;\
... --
'· ·:"~ '11H'azardciuii' airpollutants,a group ,
>::.:~~
,--,;••i;•
:of 188chemicalsand,compoundsiden- \
tifieq_byCoiigres~.:as, especiallyJo,q~,\
-,.,.-.such as 1,3-butadiene;.ahuman cam~..-1
::.~:,Si)ilogen fr,omindusi:ryarigmotor yehis \
... ,,c es. . . ...
......:\.,,, . The am.ouilto_fcertain hazardous
,
i I
..
,.:.-,.:,:,pollutan,~ mthe arr w~ ~on~ the fai::-1 --
. "~;,.f _tors that calli!edEPAsc1entistsmAtlan-./
- · · · ta last October.to rank Loi.risville-Jef-
,1 .·~,;.fersonCountyfu"stam.ong736countiesI1
:.;.~ C:in eight Southeasternstates for health " ·· ·
- - risks rromtoxic'cheniicals. · .
·· · In the newspaper's analysis, th~ ·
I
amountof this.group of ch_emicals put 1i
into the air steadily increased from i- ---
• ·-~1998 tc,2000; after decliningfor five/
years. The district's data for 2001and ; -· ··
2002were not available. r
. Because reporting rules have!- ...•· - -
changedoverthe years, it's difficultto I
determinethe overalltrend for this cat-i
; egory of releases, air district officials:
said. "It's best examined companybyl
company,and a number of companies
reflect steady decreases," Williams
said. .
The l~e~_source of haza.rdousair j··
poH{!tantsin WOOwas AmericanSyn-
thetic Rubber Co.,;asubsidiary of Mi-·
chelinNorthAmeriql,followedclosely
bfaiihetwo'Ford M:2!orCo: assembly :
p ts...··,·.-·... .· ·.• . ·.•·, . ,.
The111bbercom y'semissions of·
hazardous air p , nts}teadily inc
creasedfrom1997t0'2000Jafter declin-
ing th~ three previou_s years, according
to the. analysis. \'fhe~om_pany .showed
.up recently in an. analysis of air sam-
pling in. the Louisvillearea published
May12.by The CourieraJournal,reveal-
ingthat, ofits emissions,thehazardous
air pollutant 1,3°bufadienecould be
puttingits neigll'\}grsatsign~s~nt~k.
.
 - Bufadienewas among 18hazardous I
air pollutants or compounds that the l
newspaper identifiedat levels that ex-
ceed health-based risk thresholds for
·long-termexposurebasedon neighbo~-
hood monitoring by the EPAand Um-
versityof Louisvillein 2000and 2001.In i
· May the newspaper also discl?s~d.a j
draft report, prepared ~y 1!,V~rgima
consultingfirm for the arr district ~d ·1
the WestJefferson CountyCommumty
Task Force, that identified cumulative
risk factors from hazardous air pollu-
tants that were as high as or higherthan
thosethe EPAhadpreviouslyestimated
for anywherein the country.
American Synthetic Rubber offi-
cials, along with officialsat two other
Rubbertowncompanies;subsequently
pledgedto MetroMayo~Jerry Abrfill?-•
son they wouldvoluntarilyreduce therr
butadieneemissions;Williamssaidfur-
ther regulation of 1,3-butadieneby the
metro air districtis likelyin light of the
air monitoringfindings. ··.
·As for Ford's KentuckyTruckPlant
on Chamberlain Larie,its total emis-
sions of hazardous air pollutants·pro-
ducedlargelyfrom the paintingprocess
haveincreasedfroin 165to 390 tons be-
tween:1993anci2000, accordingto air
district records, while the company's .
LouisvilleAssemblyPlant on Fem Val-
ley Road shows an increase from 438
tons to 483 tons over the same time pe-
riod.
However, company officials say
they've taken major steps to reduce
paint vapors, and on a per unit of pro-
ductionbasis, they've made significant
improvement.For example, the truck
plant in 2QOO was producing1.8pounds
of hazardous air pollutants per truck,
comparedwith 5.8 pounds i1;l1993,said
Dennis Karl, manager of regulatory
policy in Ford's Michigan headquar-
ters: · DuPontDowElastomersplant in Rub-;
Paints contain less solvent now,
which means fewer emissions, said
Karl,·adding that application methods·
have improved,too. · .
· • AndrewHobbs,directprof the com- I
pany's environmentalquality officein ;
Michigan,said: ''Weused to put clouds ,
of paint out. Somewouldgo on the ve-
hicle and some would go out into the
atmosphere!' · ·
PARTICULATEPROBLEMS
Tiny bits of soot
rise by 76 percent
Usingthe localairpollutioninvento-
ries, the newspaper also found an in- '·
creasing problem with total particu- .
lates - tiny bits of soot and other mi-
croscopicparticles- releasedfrom in- .
dustrial facilities between 1988 and i
2000and suspended in the air.
Over 12 years between 1988 and
2000,there was a 76percentincreasein
the amount of these pollutants that
were put into the air from industry,the
newspapershowed.
West End resident Roosevelt Ro-
berts, a volunteer with the Rev. Louis
Coleman's Justice Resource Center,
says the soot and other small material
falling from the sky in his neighbor-
hood has him concerned about his
health. He is remindedof that, he said,
when he looks at his boat cover.
·"When I come out, (sometimes) it
looks like snowthere," he said. .
Williams is concerned about the
smallest particles;which are less than
½oththe diameterof a human hair and
can lodgedeep in peoples' lungs.These
have been associated with heart and
lung disease, asthma attacj:csand even
premature death. Among those who
suffer with asthma is Jamal Miles, 13,
the·son of Derrick and Janipur Miles,
who said he likes to play basketball
when his medicalproblem.sdon't get in
_ the way. .
The pollutioncan be unbearable at !
times, DerrickMilessaid. "Youcan rec . .
allysee the haze.Youcouldjar it up and •
send it to somebody.". . · ·· . :
It's almostcertain that the metro ar-.•
ea will be out of compliance with a i __
pending'new federal standard for fine ·
particle pollution,Williamss~d_.
. This couldforce new restrictionson
powerph:µ1tsas well as requiri1;ig r~tro-
fitting of school buses so therr die.sel
.emissionsare Cleaner, in addition to
.other regulatorycontrols,he said.
. · The EPAwill proposeits strategyf~r
· addressing fine particle pollution this
fall.
A SUCCESSSTORY
Volatile organic compounds.
have fallen dramatically
1 reductions in nitrogen-oxidesat many
The best pollution new~came with i
one group of diemicals that contribute j
to the region'ssummer smog.
Industrial emissions of volatile or~ i
ganic compoundsin Jefferson County·:
droppedfrommore than 25,000tons in I
1988to fewerthan 10,000tons in 2000,·
down60percent,the newspaperfound.
Someofthe compoundsused in the
area include chloroprene,used by the .
bertown, propanl:l,a cemm~J?lyused \
•.home energy source, and various sol- \
vents such as 1,1,1-trichlorethane, and
benzene, a carcinogenicconstituent of 1
·· · gasoline. . --.• -. -- -
Since the communitywas first de-
claredout of compliancewith the Clean
Air Act in 1972,there has been a con-
certed effort,especiallyin the last dec-
ade,by the air districtand industryoffi-
cials to meet the national ozone stan-
dard, said the air district'sWilliams.
The EPAin October 2001 declared
the Louisvillearea and Southern Indi-
ana's Clarkand Floydcountieshad met
the national ozone standard.
The reductions came despite the
fact that one of the area's most vener-
able industriesand prolificproducer of '
VOCemissions- bourbon making -
got a pass. Bourbondistilleriesare ex- ·
emptedby the EPAfromcontrollingthe
alcoholvaporsthat are releasedlargely
from casks while the liquor ages in
warehouses. · "It is past time to put in place an ag-
"In industry, romantically,we call
that the angel'sshare," said Brown-For-
man Corp.spokesmanPhil Lynch.
Any effort to stop the casks from
breathingthese aromaticvapors would
unacceptablyalter the color and taste
of the product,he said.
Thought was given to trapping the-
vapors before they left the warehouse,
btit the industry successfully argued ,
that it wouldbe both impracticalandin-
jurious to the bourbon, Williamssaid.
The newspaper's finding for nitro- .
gen oxides,another contributortosum-
mer smog, was l!,issencouragingwith
an increasingtrend from 1997to 2000.
The air district reported emissions of
35,010tons in 1988and 33,034tons in
2000,followinga peak of 42,501tons in
1993. . ·
•.. · It's not surprising that few gains,
were achievedwith nitrogenoxidesbe-;
tweeh 1988and 2000,FitzGeraldsaid.It _.. _
was "a latedocus of the CleanAirAct,":
: · he added. . •
"Butit is a pollutant of concern,not
_ onlylocallyput the amountthat we are: ....
transporting downwind"to other com.!
munities;he said. •
· Fewer nitrogen oxides emissions;
are expected in the future, however,:
with power companiesphasing in new.
requirementsfor emission reductions.: -
LG&E,for example, is spending $550
millionstatewide- and $142millionin
Jefferson C<>Unty -on new .controlsfor .
•nitrogen oxides; hl~l~ding-~-;.;:t~cli: \ ·
., nologyat its Mill Creek and Cane Ruri
!· ···-·:plants.ill Jeffe.rsonCounty, said its j
. spokesi:nari,Doug Bennett. .. ·· · l
· · LG&E, he said, expects 90 percent
of its plants, some of which have al- .
ready goneinto effectin 2000and 2001.·:
/ The newspaperalso found industri~. !
al carbon monoxide emissions nearly :
as high in 2000 as they were in 1988,
and higher industrial sulfur dioxide
emissions in 2000 than in· 1992,1993
and 1994.The Louisvillearea, however,·
complieswith federal air standards for .
both of those pollutants,which.canim~
pair breathing and aggravate.c.ardio~
vascular disease. · ·
PLUGGINGTHE LEAKS .
·1
i · Environmentalists call
for tighter regulations .
Most environmentaland health ad~
vocates agree that Louisville-area'airis
. much cleaner than du:ringthe 1940s-•
and 1950s,when householdand indus: ·
trial coal-burners sent up blankets of:.
thick, dark soot.. . . . ·
The metro air district; in fact, can
trace its roots to the county's •first
"Smoke Commission,"established in
1946 two years before a killer fog in ··
Pennsylvanialaunchedthefederal gov-
ernment's first modem efforts to con-
trol air pollution. ·
But environmentalistsare pressing :
harder than ever for the metro air dis- 1 •
trict to tighten its regulatorygrip to ad~
dress old and new concerns about hu-'
man health.
gressive and comprehensiveprogram ,
of reducinghazardous air pollutantsin
this communityfrom all sectors," said ·
FitzGerald.
Whilethey agree with industryrep-
resentativeswho say that it's not fair to
point the finger exclusivelyat smoke~
stacks and that pollution also comes ·
from cars and smaller businesses,they ·
say industry will need to do more if
Louisvilleair quality is to continue to
improve.
 ~ AmericanSyntheticRubber Co., ,
whichranked third on EP.A'.s
toxics re- \
theticRubber. . . .
Butenvironmentalistspointout that •
eve_n~mallleaks can add up to large •
ermssionsnumbersoverthe courseof a:
year. . . ···• .
And voluntary measures won't be
enough,said CarolynEmbry,who fol-
lows ·environmental issues for the 1
American Lung Association of Kena·
tucky. . . · ...•···· _
. "Our.air-i;Snot clean, _andgreater
C0!3-trOl
1S gorngto be·necessary,"she
said. . · . · , · ·· ·. ·
· With en1:7ironme~t*-.ts,. c~rnpany
representatives,politicians·,and,local
residents awaitingafinal risk assess-
mentb~ed on_the l<;>cal aiJ:.monitoring,
. compames with .high emissions are
waitingto see what it means: to them.

INDUSTRIESMAYLEAVE
. Expensivecontrols . ..·.,·• ,
.could prompt departures. ·.
·"In industry, ·.·.· Some indµstry official~ say they-··-···· ······-···-·------
.; romarliicaHy,we . · kno~ what may be cq~~; and they
say 1t couldcosttheni millionsof dol-· - · · ---· ·-··-·········----·-·····
caltthat the· -·· Jars more.· . . ····· · ·. · ··· ·'
· Combinedwith other economicfac~ ····-··-··-·····-·--·---
-

....ang~Ps.share." . to!s, toug~er 'pollution regul*tions

m1ghtcontributeto s?me ma.kingplans
Brown-FormanCorp. to le~vethe commumtyforlocationsin
spokesmanPhil Lynch, Mexicoor overseasor other states,said
speakingof.the alcohol vapors J?n.ath!l?Miller,envirQnmentalspe-
releasedfrom whiskey barrels cialistWJ.th DuPontDow.Eiastomers.
Thisis alreadyhappemng; ..·. .
Just ~ourclaysafter-the newspaper
summanzedon May 22 _theresults of
the draft risk assessment .oflocal air
lease listing for Jefferson County,and monitoring,ZeonChemicalCo,in Rub-
secondinJeffersonCountyforreleases bertownannpunce~that it wo?ldlikely
of what are called fugitive fumes c- movea portionof its productionto an
those that escape fr~m leaky pipes, . un~pecifiedplant it said had better pol-.
valvesand flanges- 1thas comedown lution conb;(!lsin an unn11A1ed foreign
to monitoringfor leaks smaller than a country,.costingan unspecifiednumber
pinprickand pluggingthem. . . · oflocalJobs. . ..•. , .
PlantslikeAmericanSyntheticRub- And DuPontDow Elastoniersoffi~.
ber have such a large network of pipes cials have·said environmentalfactors
and tanks, and use such·hugevolumes playeda rolein the company'sdecision
of raw materials to make their prod- lastyeartocloseitsLouisvilleplantand
ucts,that it's difficultand extremelyex- consolidateit with a.more.modemone
p~nsive.to stop all leaks, industry offi- in Louisianain the nexttwo or three
c1alssaid. ·· · years. ·· · . . · .·. ·. ·
. . "W~'V,'; a'!eadygotten the Io,wliangs saidhe fears that "peoplewill
Iy.liller
mgfnnt, said Frank Kennedy,anenvi-. d~c1dethat nobody wants industries
ronmentalmanager at AmericanSyn- .with smokestacks." ·
LoulsVlllo Gas & • .
Elac1ric Co.'s MIii - ..
Creek poworplant,~;,··_'
Information ·available
on Web-sites;
at right, ranked · · - ::
second on the ToX•. .~:
ics l;!elease In--..~ .::· ;.
>-;/~.
;e~~~~dg~;t~;- ·
However,nnolhora•::·:-
power plant,Clner--:.:
·:.-:.
gy's Gallagher In~-::·"::
-· ----- ~ --------
Southern lndlana,:-;·'I;.
was the l.ir9est .~:~'.'""
,;
·::u
r:~~1~r:Jo~-~--/
9
In lhe flve-eounty . ·-: 0
www.epa.gov/tri
metro area on both,.
sides Citthe Ohio:.'.:::
River •. ·. •:,.' .. • ·
-- Information on what various industries tell the U.S. Environmental ·
Protection,Agency about what they put into the air. ·
.. www.epa.gov/cBeanenergy/powerprofiler.htin
Find out howmuch pollution comes::fromyour horhe.
. . www~epa.gov/ttn/atw/hapindex.html
. for EPAfact $heets orr'hazardousair pollutants'.

.· .· .www.environmentaldefense,€ll~g/taiDpipetillUy .
1
H9w much.does your vehic:lepollute? Environmental.Defense,an
erivironmen.taJgroup; allows yciuto make the calculations on itsWeb
~~- '' , ' ·,

~~-~c:oh,~card.org
·.·•·.•·..·· ···· · . .· ·.· ·. ·
Fin~ out information about pollution sources·in your neighborhood fror
- .Environmental Defense. ... . . _ .. . ·

www.apcd.org ..· . .. . .
The Louisville Metro Air Poilution Coritrol District provided information o
how air quallty is managed ii,,l,.ouisvilleand Jefferson Couni.y. '
WWV\l'.apc~.org/permit/t!ltutoriaJ/index.html '
 TI\eseare amongthe largest industrial sources of air pollution
in JeffersonCounty,according to a Courier-Journalanalysisof
local and-federalrecords.

-:0 . . ,. • .. . -· · · BYl'IWSPAIJLDING,JHECOURIER.JOUANAL
I Combined.with other economic factors, tougher pollution reg.ulatioris might contribute to businesses such as sorrie of these inRubbertowii. making
,:,.P]l:l~ll
to _leavethe community for locations in Mexico or overseas or other _iitates,acco·l'91i,gto one industry. official. . . . :· ·::.·,·
 VEHICLE.ISSUES

Endo T \--

ouldi a
poll tant
· .. · ByJAMES
BRUGGERS
. . ('_ ,,... - For ilie category·ordesigiiafedhaz~
. jbruggers@courier-jciurnal.com
·. ' ardous air pollutants, the.analysis
TheCourier-Journal · shows anincrease of 290tons ay~ar.
·. . .
·:·· .: \,
.· . Butadiene emissionsfrom vehicles
. Ending the VehicleEmissionsTest- \ , would go up by 5 tons - a 12.8percent
ing program on Oct. ~1 could increase \ increase, according to the district.
hazardous air pollutants in the Louis- j That's about twice ilie amount of buta-
ville area by11percent each year and ! diene t)lat comes from the Rohm and
exposeresidents to greater amountsof '1· ·Haas Co. chemicalplant in the Rubber-·
tw6toxic chemicalsrecently identified , , town area of west Louisvill~; '
as posing excessive health risks, ac- . . Formaldehydeemissionswould in-
cordingto a new analysis by metro air crf!aseby 18tons, or 13.2P.ercent. ·
. officials: ·· ·
· The LouisvilleMetro Air Pollution
ControiDistrictanalysis,donewith im-. i .•- .. NEW
CONCERNS
proved comput~r ~odel~ng, sho":'s / Vehicles emit
there wouldbe s1gnif1cantrncreasesm : •· diingerousbuta,~liene.··
l,3~butadiene;which cause.scancerand
other health·problems, _andformalde; .. Emissionstesting has been around
hyde, a probable carcinogen.Both are . since 1984on the Kentuckyside of the
componentsofvehicle exhaust. . OhioRiver and sincel985 in.Clarkand
The issue of emissionstestingresur- · Floyd counties in Indiana:The insmic-
facedin recentweeks, afterresultsfrom tfon-and maintenance programs were 1
a:Louisville-areaair m.onitoringstudy designed to help the region reduce ilie
raised questions about whether the levelscifcarbon monoxideand ground-
Kentucky legislatur:e acted properly levelozone in the air. · · · ... ·
when it voted last year to phase out the Carbon monqxideis more·prevalent
mandatory testing of motor vehicles in the winter,and ground-levelozoneis
and what, if anything, air officialscan a main componentof summersmog.
do.to reduce·pollutionfromvehicles. : . Williams and others _have.argued
, "It would appear that for some . that the VETtest is tile only way reguc
chemicals,losingthe VETprogramwill lators can make sure motorists- who
furtherworsen the toxic loadin the air," · . drive 22.6 millionmilesa day in Jeffer-
said Art Williams,director of the pollu- son County - keep their cars and
tion control district. Williams·said the trucks polluting minimallyby making ·
VETprogram catches cars with faulty
ellUssion-controlsyst~msor those that ·
are poorlytuned-:: f3:ctorsthat s~emto
produce.larger em1ss1onsof a vanety of ·
pollutants; .. • .
In fact,the district'sanalysisproject- ·
ed increases in 10 other hazardous air
pollutantsafter ilie VETends, as wellas
·modestincreasesin smog-causingvola-
tile organic compounds and nitrogen
oxides.
Williams believes the increases in
th~ smog-causing pollutants won't be
enough to cause the area to fall out of
compliance with the current national
· standard for ground-levelozone, a key
comj)onent·ofsmog. Loss'of the VET,
however,,. might hamper the area's abil-
ityto complywith a tougherozonestan-
dard that the EnvironmentalProtection
Agencyexpectsto enforcestartingnext
year,he_said. . __ . ,.

BYKEITHWIWAMS,THECOURIER-JOURNAL·
Benifa Baldon, center, and Dave Hicks el(l)lained to Danny Elyar what he
needed to do to his car to pass the VET. The testing system is due to close
· on Oct 31. ·

sure their. engines are properly tuned ·
and emission-control systems are
working. But the unpopular program, •
which costs $11per car per year, was
. killed last year bythe KentuckyGeneral
Assemblyand Gov.Paul Patton_aftert~e
metro area came into comphance-m
2001.withthe ozone standard: A similar
effortto end testing in SouthernIndiana
was vetoed by Gov. Fnmk O'Bannon
thisyear. · ·
• But now there's concern over differ-
ent kinds of pollutants, also associated
with niotor vehicle emis.sionsbut for
which there are no enforceablenational
air quality standards. Buta:dienewas
detected in localair samplingat concen-
trations up to hundreds of times higher
than levels the EPA, state of Kentucky.
and local environmental officials con-
sider safe over decades of exposure, an
· analysis by The Courier-Joi:rn,al~~und.
The newspaper on May 12.identifieda
total of18:haza:rdotisair pollutants at 13
monitoring sites that exceeded EPA ······ health nsk. But vehicle em1ss1onsre- ·
health based risk thresholds.
0
Butadienewas·alsooneoffour pollu-
· ·
tants rdeiitifiedas the maintoxic air.risk
factors for Louisville-arearesidents in a
still unreleased draft report done for the
air district and the WestJefferson Ggun-
ty CommunityTaskforce, based oritbe
same sampling analyzeclby the news-
paper.· · · . · and DevelopmentAgency?Petates th~
That report, prepared by a Vir~fa f_ __ hundreds of tons a year.:_including509i - ·
consulting firm, identifi~d cumula!ive ./
risk factors that were as high as or h1gh
er than the EPAhas estimated any-
where in-the country. · . . .
Much of the risk points to industry,
such as Rubbertown chemical plants.
But some cari be attributed to cars and
trucks. . . . upmetro Louisville'ssmog..
Formaldehyde was ide~tifi~d as a
significant risk at one momtonng sta-
tion - at the Universityof Louisville's·
Shelby Campusin east Louisville.
"It was irresponsible ... to end the
(VET) progiam, even if it may have
been politically advantageous," said
Tom FitzGerald, director of the Ken-
tucky ResourcesCouncil."Everybodyis
always happy to have somebody else
foot the bill for their pollution."
The VET program, he said, sh~mld
have been changed to focuson vehicles
more likelyto fail testing.
Buttwo legislatorswholed the effort
to end the \!ETsaid they have no inten-
tion of allowingit to return, despite new
evidence of the community's problems · ! ·
with toxicpollutants. · ··
They said they didn't trust the EPA's
computer model that was used in the
past by the dish·ictto justify the VE,;.
They said it was criticized by some sci-
entists as overestimating the value of
testing programs. . Both will be challenges, based on
"I think it's fascinating that we kind
of found all these problems the same
time the-VETis ending/ said state Sen.
Dan Seum, R-Louisville.."I thinR there
may be a push to bring it back." .
He said that cars are as clean as they ·
can be, that industry has been doing its
part, and that he doesn't think the re-
gion's air quality is especially poor. "I
think we have come a long way,"Seum
said. '
Seum said thatone of his main crit-
icisms of the VETis that only 2 percent
of all vehiclesJail. · Louisville
District officials,however,disagree,
saying that last year, 23,2~8of 41?,~4~
vehicles, or 5.6 percent, failed their 1m-
tial test Of those, 17,616were subse-
quently brought into·coinpliance after
r~pairs. The remainder either S!,lccess-
fullyappealed, were granted waiversor
were.fakeffoff county roads.
·State Rep.Perry Clark,D-Louisville,
.another VET.critic, said motor vehicle
owners have already paid their share to
clean up the air throughthe cost of pol- ·
lution controls.mandatedby the federal
government for their cars and trucks. ·..
He said the.air district should look
elsewhere- like Louisvilleinternation- -
al Airport - if it needs to further reduce
pollution. --;;'::>i . ·• · ...
Williamsrespondell that.his staff m-
. tends to look for the sources of all haz-
ardous. ~ir•polluta~ts'posi!1g:excess
main a concern; he said: ·< .··.·· .
.Andhe said that di$trictstaff recent- ----··
lyre-examined motorvehicle emiss~ons
with a new EPA model that recogmzes i
new cai:sand trucks stay.cleaner,long- i
er. . . : .. .
··By ~sing the new .modelthe ?is~rict/
found that withoutthe VET,emissions,
I from motor vehicles will increase by!
·tons of volatile organic compoundsan~ [
0
1,034tons of nitrogen oxides;~ ad~i-1
tiori of 4 and 5 percent, respectively, i
Both contribute to smog. . ·:
In fact,. cars and trucks account for i
.--·-·'. ~
. .... -~.;.. - -- . ·- ..
:-
abouta third of.thepollutants.thatcook
ECONO~IC.P!ERH.
. i EPA could seek
major r~ductions
If the region falls out of compli~ce, ·
it's possible the EPAmay seek a region-
wide 25 percent reduction in smog-
causing emissions, said Pat Moran, an
environmentallawyerwho has been ac-
tivewith Greater LouisvilleInc. and for-
merJy worked for Rohm ari_dHaas: If
manufacturers alone carry the entire
burden, it would mean they wouldhave
to reduce emissions by 75 percent, he ..
said. ·
"Thiitis notfeasible without driving
a lot of manufacturing out of t~e coun-
ty" he said. • . ·
' For Jefferson County,itmight come ·
. down to more.personal solutioi:is,such .·
as improved car- and van-poohng pro-
grams or encouraging bus tj ding.
habits reported in the 2000Census.The. 1
metro area ranks 179thofall :
metro areas for car-poolirig,and 52nd '
in going:towork by bus, at 10.~and 2.2
percent of commu~e.rs, respectively.
Some commuruties;under pressure
from the.ERAto reduce smog, are al-
ready mandating ride sharing;
The Durham CountyBoard of Com-
missioners in North Carolina in 2000,
signed into law its Commuter Trip ?e- !
duction Program to reduce congestion
and pollution.
·The result is that fewer people are :
driving alone and more aret~ilg the I_
bus, using carpools orworkingfrom;
home, said Audra Foree, a transporta- i
tion plannerforthe TriangleTrl3:nsitAua I
thority, _which oversees enforcement ()f i_
the ordmance: . · ... . . j
. Barry Barker, ~xecutfyedir~ctor of! ..
the TransitAuthonty of River 9ty, sees ·
light rail as a way to reduce .arrpo¥u~
-tion, butTARChas not secured fundmg ·
to build the system: TARCw~uld also
liketo bring back~5-cen!pernd~ smog-
fightingbus fares 1th~dm tht=: su"~~!.S.
of 1999:2oot;ii;t·can•tai~rd .towithout: .
·additionalfederal subsidies; . · .
' ·• "Do you cut back on servic(')to pro-
.. vide cheaper fares?l'Bar~er asked'. .
·....The KentuckianaRegionalPlanning
.Ticketto Rideprogram,which lets bu_s1-
. nesses know about tax advantages m-
volvedwith getting employeesto share .
rides. But the director of that program,
Kelly Tyra called it a "hard sell" be-
cause the financial advantages aren't
_ thaUarge, andcompan)'.Qftici.!11s oft~n
)
don't understand the regions arr quality
problems; .· . ·.. . . .· .
.·. JimNordmann,.aLowsvilleresident
who works·in Frankfort, is a driver in
KlPDNsTicket to Ride, which has six
. vanpools workin~. Nordmann shuttles
· 11others 500 mlles a week between
Louisvilleand Frankfort: ·· ..
Mostlypeople participatebecause 1t
saves them money, he said. But that's
notthe only reason. .. . '
·· . ''.Alot of people,. me m~lu~ed, are
concerned about air quahty, Nord-
mannsaid.
Drive contribute
)a.rs
to·
in
and trucks run:much cieaner than they did the 1960sand 19705. 8~ they still ~ntribute significa~y to air p~llution, l~ly
air
and ~~tionally- :
, part becauseAinericans drive so much. In Louisville and Jefferson County alone; m.otorists every day collectively fog 22.6 million miles- nearly '
inough to travel 1,000 times around the• Earth. · · • · . · . · • . . . . . . .

. Vehicle
emissions:·
.:fourexamples
. Annual pounds of ···
: emissionsottour categories
• of pollli)arrtsfrom four
.vehicles driven 12,500
..miles.

9.4 3.3
SOURCE:EnvironmentalOefense

lliE COURIER-JOURNAL.
 '"lren«fin-groaind-ievel
ozoneinthe.louisvme
area
Pollutionfrommotorvehlcles·and
businessesreactswith sunlight·
. foproduceground-levelozone,a key componentinsmog.
190
. 180,
,, 170
160
150
140
:120
110
100
1971 '72 173 74 '75 '76 77 . '78 '79 '80 '81 . '82 '83 . '84 '85 '86 .'87 '88 ;89
SOURCE:LouisvilleMetroAir Pollution Control District ·
.AMERICAN SYNTHETIC RUBBER CO. ·
Jo···.•
··1·
- '•
· ·...
. .. :.•u···
,· .
. :t.·...
a·· ····· ·
.
·:
. ·. . ... ~-
. ByJA~ES.BRUGGERS
.
jbruggers@courierajoumal.coin
. • TheCourier-Journal .
AplanUha:t i~ responsible for more
thari .half of the total emissions of one ·
cancer-cauiing cheini~affound in)ef- •
ferSori'County's air may be the first to
. face increased regulatory scrutiny.•.
· The American Synthetic Rubber Co.
in western Louisvillewill have its pend-
ing~ P.Ollutioilpei:mit re~tten by the
Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control·
District following a draft air-monitor-
irigreport that showed exc~ssive levels.
of ~,3"butadieneat all 13 air monitors in
the Louisville area, including one of
those nearest the plant and one 14.miles
east. The chemical; according to the
draft report, puts Louisville area resi~
dents at excess rjsk of cancer and other
health problems. . .· . new permit writer was assigned to the
. "Amerjcan .Synthetic Rubber Co. 1s
the community's largest source ofbuta-
diene," said Art Williams, director of
the air district. "We want to regulate
and control butadiene emissions as
tightly as we can control them within
the framework of the law."
The company, which burns·98 per- •
cent of its hazardous air pollutants, in- .
eluding butadiene, currently has no
limit on the amount of butadiene emis- .
sions. Williams said he's considering
several actions, including placing a lim- .
it. on the company's butadiene emis-
sions and requiring it to operate a
"downwind" air monitor.
•National
standard
"' w ~~
The U.S. Environmental
:· . ProtectionAgency currently.
enforcesa 124.partsper billion
standardover a one-hour
· · ·.periodfor ground.:Jevel
ozone.
.Nextyearthe EPAis expected
•to enforcea tougherstandard.
'90 '.91 '92 '93. '94 . ·~ . '96 '97, '98 '99 2000 '01 · '02
' \
I
I
·.···t····.•
..•·•···· :'.>•····.•.·1•t•··
m··. ··.. · ·
.. '
.·•1···.·
....
. ·; .
·~r \
is
. At is~~e the company's so~called
Title V,pemiit, named after a section of
the Clean Air Act amendments of1990.
The company first applied for the per~
mit six yef!IS~go ..;._in 1997 - b~t has
yet to receive 1tbecause of delays ,mthe .
.application process. Title V penmts are
_tobe issued every five years. . ·
The district put forward a draft per-
. mit in December 2000, but it.drew an
unfavorable response from environ-
mental attorney Leslie Banas of the Jo~
cal Sierra Club in early 2001.
Barras said the draft permit failed to
clearly. identify what chemicals woul~
be used at the plant and iri what q~afl:ti~
ties as well as show how the d1stnct
wo~ld be able to enforce its conditions.
Wtlliams ·said that a staff shortage
delayedthe review of the draft permit in
2001 and 2002. In April of 'this year, a
project:· .
'½sit turns out, (the delays) may be.a
good thing,"Wtlliams.said, because had
one been issued in 2001or 2002, the dis-
trict would iikely have had to wait until
2006 or 2007 to consider improve-•·
ments.
The delay will allow the district to
make decisions about butadiene con- BYPAMSPAULDING,
THECOURIER-JOURNAL,
trols with its new understanding of the .
risks to the community, Wtlliams add- ' The flare stack at AmericanSyn-
ed. thetic Rubber Co. burns98 percent
Banas agreed, and said the Siena of the company's hazardousair
Club will be watching closely. It will pollutants, includingbutadiene.
likely ask the district to require the The flare stack is the maximum
control legally required.
 company to reduce its emissions and to
monitor for toxic chemicals along its
fence line. · , ·. ·
In written answers to,questions
from.The Courier-Journal, the compa-
.ny declined to speculate on how its reg-
ulation may change under a new per-
mit. It previously has said it has lowered
butadiene emissions from 160,000
pounds in 2000 to about 140,000 pounds '
last year. · ·
Plant officials also pointed out that
they are currently required to operate a
flare-stack that bums· and destroys 98
percentQf all hazardous air pollutants,
including butadiene. It's considered the
legally required maximum controL
Plant spokesman Jim Crowley said
the company would comply with the
new permit when it's issued. Wtlliams
said that could be in December.
· The plant's emissions represent
about 55 percent of all butadiene pollu- ·
ti.onin Louisville and Jefferson County
au:, according to information provided
by the air district and obtained from the
U.S.Environmental ProtectionAgehcy.
.. The company, along with Zeo:iland ;
- ." .. ···:·. ·•---~·
---~--'. .l\
Rohm and Haas. Co., also in Rubber~ L.
town, are the. only three industrial/
sourc.es of butadiene in Louisville. . I
. Representati".es of all three told 1
Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson on May
27 that they would voluntarily reduce
their emissions of the chernicallate last
.month, four days after The Courier-·
Journal reported the contents of a still
unreleased draft report that identified
butadiene as one offourmaintoxic air
risk factors for Louisville-area.resi-
dents. · ·. . · •
That report, prepared by a Virginia

consulth1g firm for the air district:andf ·

the West Jefferson County' Community!··
·Task Force, identified cumulative. risk\
factors from. hazardous air pollutants i
that were as high as or higher than the I . ~ ' . , ' ~FAMSPtJ.JlO!NG.
TrlECCU.!ER-JOURI
AmericanSyntheticRubber Co. wns ono of threelocal Industriesthat told Metro MayorJerry Abramson:ori May 27 thattheywouldvoluntarilyredut
EPA has estimated for anywhere in the 1· th~.i~emissionsof butadiene.The plant's emlssfonsrepresentabout 55 percen~of all butadiene ~olluUonIn Lou!svllleand J~ffersoncounty air.
country... > .. · :: · ..
In ari·iridependent analysis ofthe
same air sampling data, the newspaper
identified butadiene in·.concentrations
up to hundreds of times higherthanlev:-
els the EPA,state ofKentucky and local
!
envi.ronm.ental off.jda..ls co·n·s.ider s.afe..
over decades of exposure ..Ih its report
on May i2;fue.newspaperid~ntified18
hazardous air pollutants at 13 monitor,
ing sites that exceeded EPA health~
based risk thresholds. · · •· :;
Curtis Taylor, a volunteer with the
Justice Resource Center's Bucket Bd'-
gade citizen air monitoring project;
said the communitymayhavea "goltlen
opportunity' to bring about industrial
butadiene reductions. · . ··
"By giving our input, the. company
has to be put on notice to do some-
thing," he said, adding thathe doesn't
trust the air distric~to be aggressive. :
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS .

We3thercan have majorimpact

on area'SpoUutioJl probi~lll:
. . . . ~

ByJAMES
BRUGGERS
jbruggers@courier-joumal.com
TheCourier-Journal ·

Weather conditions can make air .

qualify better or worse. · • .· • · ·· .
What's good for holding down
ozone; a key·componentofsmog, might
not be so good for getting rid of a cate; .·
g9ry of chemicals and compounds
.known as hazardous· air pollutants ....
For example; this spring's damp,
cool weather delayed the Louisville ar-
ea's arrival ofsl!log, But it may have
pre.vented certain types of hazardous
c:hemicalsfrom quickly breaking down
into less risky,pollutants, air pollution
officialssaid. ·..· . ·· ...··.. · . .
The worst smog in rec;entyears typ~
kally has begun in mid- to late June, of,.
ficials said. That's what happened .this .
year, when intense sunlight, emissions .
and stagnant air in late June prod1:1ced· •
!··
.the summer's first ozone·health alerts: I
This is also the·time of yearwhe·n the · · BYBILLLUSTER,THECQURIER-JOURNAL j
·1
Louisville area experiences its most. se- ,·!
vere episodes of a third kind of pollu- VernaJoirier,·who liveson Allston Street, wants·to knowwhat causesthe I
ti9n: microscopic particulates. . .so.otymaterialthat clingsfo the aluminumsiding of her hdme and the
"It's when the air becomes stagnant exteriorof other homeson her street. ·
that.we suffer," said Mike Callahan, hy-
drologist with the Na,tional Weathe~ times on 26 days last summer. The.area . chemical odors starting in the spring. l
Service. ·· has exceeded the standardatleast eight Verna Joiner, who !iv.es·on Allston
The Louisville Metro Air Pollution times on four days this summer, with .Street; showed areportertlle sootyma-
Control Districttracks all the ozone a.c- the first occurrence ori June 24. ·. t~r!al clinging to the white alum~um
tion days that it calls each year, when it But ozone isn't the only air pollution s1drngof her home, and.the extenor of !
asks people to ride the bus, avoid mo:w-· problen;iconfronting area residents. · other homes on. her street. She has
ing the lawn and take other steps to re- Fine particle pollution, produced lo- asked Arnita Gadson,·executive. direc- .
duce smog-causing emissions because cally fro in power plants and dies.el tor of the West Jefferson County Com-
weather conditions are ripe to push erriissionsand blownin from sources as munity Task Force, to help her figure
Louisville.area air into unhealthy lev- far away as South America, typically out the cause. . · ·
els. · · peaks in July and August, said Art Wtl~ "I deal with this all the tii:ne,"Joiner
· The first ozone aotion·days in the liams, director of the Louisville Metro said, pointing to the blacksta,ined
past seven years were, starting with last Afr Pollution Control District. · splotches on the siding. , . .
year: June 28, June 21, June 10, May 29, • By analyzing microscopic particles Gadson took samples of thesiding. · i
May ,14,July 1 and June 21. This year's detected,at monitors, the district is tty- Williams said black spots on siding ·.,
first ozone action day was June 23. ing to learn more about the sources of are common. ln some cases, the air dis- ·
·In addition; the Louisville area ex- that kind of pollution, and why it peaks trict has linked them to emissions from
ceeded the ozone standard that the U.S. in the summer, he said. . coal-burning furnaces or power plants.
Environmental Protection Agency ex- But one West End residentsaid she It's also possible that the spots are a
pects to begin enforcing next year 76 noticed both an increase in soot and type of mold that may be linked to va-
pors from distilleries, be said.
Joiner said strong chemical smells in ,
the air this spring forced her to close her. '
windows. ·
"It's something that tak.es your
breath away," she said.. ·
The cooler spring weather may have
cont1ibuted to Joiner's impression, Wil-
 . .· ;

Iiams said. . . . .. though they may bre_ak do,vii morJ

Cooler weathe_r may allow some quicklywiththeadditionalsunlightand
hazardous air pollutants to hang in the. heat, he said. . •:···~,,;. · ; , · '' ·
air longer by slowing their chemical That doesn't necessarily m~•1Jelief
breakdown, Williams said. Stagnant. from air pollution, though. Once"they:. ·
summer air, however, can·make it .less break down, some of the hazardous air·
likely that these pollutants· disperse pollutants are the ones thatre.;ict wilh .
-~~o~-~e_ir_industrial sources, even intense sunlight to create ozone. · ;i \

TINY POiLt.UTION PARTICLES IN THllf AHlWEBREAtHE:

.
· Suspended particulate
matter,measured
in microns'.
cancausesig~ificariftiealth
'problems.
Officialsare concemeq most about::·.
·
part.icles
thataresmaUerthan 2.5microns,oftencalledPM2.5;orabout.1/30th the.diameter
of a:huni'an
hair..TheLouisville are;i.::
has~eenexceeding ~ national
month\yaverage standar~_of15rilicrogr:ams
pe~cubic.meter:
Thisgraph _illustrates montlllyaverag~
.. readingsof PM2.5 .since1999,showing
theworstconditions in summer
areconsistently months., · • .• , . .. . • : : •···.... •··: · ;
35 ' ,, .

,....;, 301----.---------'--'--,---,--"---f----'-,-,'. --"---'--,"-,---,--'-,------.--·

-
- .. m··-
·(]) '

.,.,.E 25.1--------,---~----.
\. :2
-g
Q 20 '
-.S.o,,-------'--'-----C.,,-·
(D ,.,,.. .. ,f¥.
a. '
-E1s.
~
·gi
,_ 10 i----~ ·~------~--~--------~...------·

~ 51--------------~-,---'-,-----,-------~
Q'-. -'--'---'-,--'----'----'----'-----'-------'---"-'---'-----'---'-----'
Jan. Feb. March. May
average
...........,1999Monthly

Monthlyaverage

.. win - 2001.Monthlyaverage

••·••m• 2002Monthlyaverage.

~ 2003Monthlyaverage
'......
•AiJ,?ll~l;!E ME~HE';V'.THEyJI
.•.,••. ;•. '• ' . ,'.·!
 B ol nt odor tr
to indu trial vap(Jr
ByJAMES
BRUGGERS
jbruggers@courier-journal.com·
·
The Courier-Journal
Airpollutiondoesn'tc6meonly_fr~m
smokestacksand through leaky pipes.
· In one South Louisville home, it
came· from the basemellt and was ·
tracedto industrialwastevaporsin sew-
er liries.thafthe Metropolitan Sewer .
Districtsays are linked to a paint plant ·•·
with a historyof regulatorytrouble. ·
· . ..."lthoughtIwassmellinga can oftur-
pentine,"said DeniseFox,of the <>dors
coI)lingfrom.her home. "Mydaughter ..
got nosebleeds: I'd wake up, and my•·
chest wasburning." . . ·. . · : . ' _;
Foxnoticedthe smells after movmg ··
into the house on South First Street in.~·
September1999.With _neighborJaI/-ef
Tharp,_shelauncheda:vigorouseffortto ·
persuade MSD and other government · JanetTharp, along with neighborDemse Fo_x,.
officialsto·take their. odor and health·. ..to persuadeMSD and other governmentoff1c.1als_
ooinplamlB seriouilY. · .
Three years and repeated phone
calls later,MSDtook air samples.
The results, while 1:xpectedby the
~?women, were surpnsmg toM~Dof- i
ficials:. · ; • . . :.
!illConcentrationsof fourvola,tileor~!
ganic chemicalsin F?x'~ basement ~ i
measured atop.a dra.1:1mt? the sewer /
system'-:-were n~arlyidei:iticaltolevels;
a mileawayat~ sidewalkm fyontofAk~l
zo Nobel Coatings Inc.; which makes !
resin for.iridustpa.1-gradeP,air:tts. autr] ployees, ag~eed in Qctobe~ t? a
plant at 4730C~tten~enD~ve. . .··.··.·r
"It left a trail," said Patrtck f1tz~er-,
ald, in~ustrialwaste ~epartme~tfield !
operations_managerwithMSD.These\
~ere,,chemu::als youwouldnot expectto •
find. ' ' ' . ' ' ' i
. 1111 Concentrations_of.thesame f~ur-l
chemicalsalso were similarat t!1epomt \
y.rhe!ethe company~ad been,disch!l1;g-
mg its waste water mto a sewer main;
and inside a manhole n~l!~_I!!~ry'§_
ho~e, also a mileaway.
· The ch'emicals were 2-butanone, .
used in paints and glues; acetone,used :
to makeplastics,fibers and other chem- ·
icals;metliylisobutylkeytone,used as a ,
,solventfof resins and paints; and n-bu- ·
tanol, alsoused as a solvent.
None have been linked by the U.S. ·
Environmental Protection Agency or
the {J.S.Departmentof Health and Hu-
man Services to cancer, but all can
cause other health problems. MSD
finedAkzoNobel$1,000in January for
causingstrong odors.Noneofthe levels
detectedin the sewersviolatedoccupa-
tional safety standards for MSD em-
ployeeswho work in them, MSD offi-
cials said.
. , . . ..
· 1 healthcomplaintsseriously.
-·"· · · - ...· ...
0 • --
. ,
Since March 2001,MSDhas levied;
$8,250in?Tiesagainstth,~co~pan¥ for I
: various discharge and reportingviola~1
.tions In addition·MSDhas issuedmore I
.than 30 noticesof violationto AkzoNo;;;l·
bel sinceJ992,when recordsshowthat i
it started operating an industrial pre 0 i · ·· · where it is treated and sent intomunici..:
treatmentfacilityat the plant. · ·· . l
AkzoNobel·whichhas about90 em- :
$222;700settlementwith the Lowsville
MetroAir PollutionControlDistrictfor
· ·violating environm~p.tal~~~latfoiis :
. overhowitrepoi:tedarreimSsionsfro~ !
the plant.A poi:o,onof the settlement1si
to be spent on improvedsewagetreat- I
ment eqw.·pment. to be installedbyJul_yI
1,2004,saidTerriPhelps,air disttj.cten- .
• forcementsupervisor. _·_
_ , •_
The companyintends to contestJt.s!
· latest fine, as well as an $1,180penalty:
assessedto cover MSD's testing costs,t .
saidMikeWright,Akzohealthand safe-!
tymanager.Wrightmaint~ that MSD:
failedto prove that the chem1calscame.
from waste water from Akzo.He also•
said that the companydoesn'tuse ace-
tone, one of the four chemicalsidenti-.
fied by MSD. · ·
AkzoNobel,like200otherindustrial
facilities,haspermitstoputwastewater
into sewer lines. The practice is com- ,
mon in the Southeast. .
Beforethe EPAstarted requiringthe
pretreatment of organic chemicalsin
1993,Akzoonly had rudimentarytreat-
ment of its waste water first requiredin
the 1970s,MSD ComplianceManager
TomSpaldingsaid.
. _ . _. . . _ . . .... ; :';,,,.
launcheda v1~orouseffo\1:.,/;-;
to take their odor and:;,i;:(; ,
···• • · · • ~::;
- -- , - --- 0
· ·BufAkzoNobeltoldMSDthat, as·of
Feb.I, it had stoppeddumpingitswaste ·
water into the sewer system, Spalding
said. Instead,the companyreportsthat
.itswastewaterhas beenhauledawayby
. truck to a privateplant in Indianapolis,
pal sewersthere. .. .
Environmentalmatters did not play ,
11roleinth~company'sdecisiontos~gd,'
its waste to Indiana,Wrightsaid'."That
-was an economicdecisionon our part;"
he said. He declinedto explain. · · · ·
. . · :-·,-,
Industries have been dumpinglilM;
municipal-sewersfor decades-,- even··'
before MSDbegan its own first treat::''·
ment in 1958,Spaldingsaid. '· .·· · ·· _1: ·: ...
.The largest problemMSDever l1act '. .
with industrial vapors was fa 19~fr~:
when the foinier Ralston~Purinas•yl:
. bean processingplant southeast of l\i,,e:,;
Universityof Louisvillecampusspil!¢<!'• :
thousandsof gallorurofthe·solverit h~.;,1.
ane into the sewers,resultingin a mas-,
·sive explosion that damaged miles.§f;:_
streets in OldLouisville; · ·.. : ,._,p,-
·MSD insists industries that use itf:;'
sewersrestrictvaporlevelsand treaf~r:':·
fluent so tha:tchemicalsand heavymeW'
als don't hamper finaltreatmentat tl);~.'..
district's main Morris FormanWaste'-'•
. water TreatmentPlant in the WestEiif,f;
and so they don't producestrongoddts....
MSD must meet requirements of tJ:i'.e· ;
federal Clean Water Actbefore dis? · .
charging treated water into the Ohi() ·
River. · ·
 None of the four chemicals MStF
linked to Akzo Nobelwere in the arr' aF·
concentrations that exceeded EPA '
long-termhealth screening levelsused
by the state of Kentuckyat the sidewal',k,,
monitoring site near Akzo Nobel orjn '
Fox's basement .. , - ;:·
· However,the monitoring detect~~ · ·
chloroform atop the sewer drain·fn
Fox's basement above the long-teifu::·
health screening level set by the EP.Ns···
Region$,based in Phill;idelphia, but be--'
low the level set by Region 9, based;irf ·
SanFrancisco.·Benzene,commonlyaF.
tributed to motor_vehicle emission~;;·
was present at concentrati_onsthat e:x:,;i.: ·
ceed the Region:3screening level. .; ,,_.,.,,.
The women said they were pleas:~·._-,'
that MSDfinallytesteelthe air, and they;:;'
acknowledgethat the odors went awayr,;:·
fo! s.everalwee~ after the tomp~t:'.,
said 1tstopped usmg the sewers. ;;,,,-.,,
But the smells came back for thre'e'··
days in April, and in June, they said:.!.'t:t:,.
-
Theyhave complainedagain to botW·
MSDand the air pollutiondistrict, '.\:f~'.,
Neighbors on such streets as Wel~;:-
lington,·Ashland, Francis and Gillette'··,
have also complainedabout the oc,lots;:o; ·
which·s~ell Hk_evarnish o~ pai1;1tffi;
mover,said Tharp, wl:l.o has livedm the· .
area for 30 years. · ):: •..
Fitzgerald speculated that some:,.
chemicals may actually be volatili~
:enoughtp 1novepast the traps in }J.oihe:;
plumbing. He also said the vapors·,,··•
which came back thi,sspring followi,pg_'
heavyrain even after the companys~s ;;;
it began sending its wasteto Indianapdf
lis sewers, may ·be coming from conit
taminated groundwater in the neigh-
borhood. But MSD has rejected the
women's call for groundwater or soil
testing. Fitzgerald said his agency
PHOTOSBYPATMCDONOGH, THECOURIER.JOURNI
doesn't have jurisdiction to regulate DeniseFox held an air samplerin her basement "I thoughtI was smellinga can _ofturpentine,'.'
Foxsaid of the
'groundwater. '· ·· ··· odorscomingfrom her home."My daughtergot nosebleeds.l'.dwake up, and my chestwas burning." ·

CHEMICALREADINGS
BNSEWERS,_
. ·--- \'
The MetropolitanSewer Districthasfolloweda trail of chemicalvapors
frc:mian',industrialplantto a hou_se
basementon South First Street.
(PP~.,. p.ar!sper billion) · · ·

n!ousebasement'·
4580s:FirstStreet ·
Acetone

Akzosewerline1mtrance
. 250PPB ·
150 PPB
n-butanol· 4000PPB.
methylisobutylkeytone1000PPB
 1981 SEWEREXPLOSIONS.· .

Blasts ripped Louisville streets,

spurred hazardous. material law
ByJAMESB!UIGGERS
.... enth Street and Jordan Avenue. millionmdamagesand "millionsmote"
jbruggers@courier-journal.coin . No.o.ne.was seriouslyJmrtibl,ltthere to othei:governmentagencies and pri-:
TheCourier::.Journal was extensive damage.to homes
businesses. · · · · · · ··
and:..
vate individualswho stlffered'damage,
· accordingto MSD. , , , ·· ·
It was a Fridaythe 13thto remember · The cause? An illegal•dischargeof-·· ··· The company used city.Jndustrial !
•..the day the sewersexplodedin Louisa thousands of gallonsof the solventhex- bonds to rebuild its pllmt in 1983;and :
ville. · ane from the former Ralston-Purina then sold it in 1984.Thefacility,withits
Theyearwas 1981: · ....... ··-·· ··-··~
· soybeanplailfOnFloydstreet. ··-· --· ·1andniai.-k stOrage_sil9S ~ong Interstate
At5:16a.m.,ElsieFisherandShirley The disaster prompted the city of 65 near-the University of Louisville
Rhodes were on.their.regular earlyc .Louisville.andJefferson.County.four .. Belknap C;:tmpus,is.now operateq by
morning rid~s. from their West Ij'.n.cl .·•••·
Y:eai:slater t9 ad<>ptt~e co~up.ity'~:, Protein Technologies!hterna!ional, a
homes to therr Jobs at .a local hospital; first hazardous materials ordmance, companythat Schardem descnbes as a
They had stopped for ared light at 12th·· puttfugthe MetropolitanSewer DistricL .·"customer" with a good track record
and Hill streets. The light changed,the in charge of regulating_tl:l~ storagean..d .withfylSD.• . . .. . .....:.... . _
car acceleratecl,.and seconds.later;a.cs . disposalof such dangerousmaterials., ..•. Sd1ardein was not employed by
cording to an account iil The Courier-··, · ·The explosion,·said MSDexecutive ·MSffat the time. Buthe was workingas
Journal,the street blew apart. ·•·· ···· .director Bud Schard,ein,.is one of the · a plumber and welder a.bout a ·block
The blast htirledthekcar intothe air , ·reasons the. agency still closelymoni- ·.• · ·rromwherethe explosionsoccurred,,,
and onto its.side; · . . . .. , tors for explosivegases and limitstheir .:• "I heard a series.of explosions,''he
Atthe same.tjme,1,000feet in the air;.. ·,com;entrationsin sewer lines, . . · .· s;lid. "Wwas like booIn, boom, boom,
a police hel.jcopt~tseru;d:tit:ig for asto~. "Sometiinesit takes ah everitlike ... boom,booin.". . .. .. . · .· .... ..
len Ford Thunderbird was heading to- that to shake, people enough to raise . . He ~limbedup onto the root.of.the
ward the downtown area. The officers awareness, to say we.need to do some. building where he was working and
saw an unforgetta~lesight: a series of thing like this," he said of the 1985·en-. could see the. collapsed pavement of
explosions,·like a bombing run, they. actment of the city-countyhazardous 12thStreet.
told the newspaper,erupting alongthe materials ordinance. Reporters and editors workingthat.
·streets of Old Louisville,near the Uni- Ittooknearlytwoyearsforthecityto day for the newspaper detailed a draa:
versity of Lou~e campus. . .. . .. repair the sewer lines,and severalmore . matic story of .one of the largest sewer !
The blllsts, p<Jssiblyttjggered by a months to finish street repairs, accord- explosionsin the UnitedStates. · '
spark from the women's car, wrecked ingto MSD. . . . . . "Itwasoneofthemostdramaticen- •
more than two .miles of Louisville Ralston-Purina eventually pleaded · vironmental catastrophes I ever cov- !
streets. A front page photo the next day guiltyto four countsof violatingfederal · ered/' said Jim Detjen, who spent 21 '
in The Courie.r-JournalshowedaLo.uis~· . environment~ laws. It pajd a.fine of .yearsin dailyjournalismand workedat ..1
ville Water .Co.worker dwarfed by a $62,500.On top of that, the companyin the.newspaper in the 1970s and: early :
gaping crater fu the pavement at Sev~.• 1984agreed to pay MSDmore than $18 1980s. , ·. · ,
. •c--;.It·;;s·~ni~cr~dible ~~ss?.~;i~ \
Detjen, who now teaches environmen--:
tal journalism at Michigan State Uni~ :
versity, noting that the nonfunctional :
sewer system began to smell and dam- I
aged roads tied up traffic.. · . · . ·.. ·.
The newspaper on Feb.14 and.Feb.
15reportedon the chemical,the compa- i1
ny where it came from, the response .
from emergencyworkers and the ieac- :
tion of residents. !
AU of L student, Gary Sullivan,who ·
lived on South Second Street, said his ·
"whole bathroom blew apart; I.saw it
self destruct." · ··
-------.- --·.,:. - ... ·--. --·.· -·-•- --··- ---- --··---
~

The explosion knocked Jeff Nuck-

ols,anOldLouisvillecoffeeshopwaiter;
to the floor'."I didn't knowif the building
was comingdownonme or not,"he said
at the time.
As fumesbuilt up downstreamin the
sewer line in west Louisville, police
evacuatedseveral schoolsand an oilre-
finery. · · ·
· . . . .. .· COUAIER.JOUBNAL/ f · At 3:45 p.m., what the newspaper
A sewer explosion in 1981, blamed on an illegal release of the solvent hexane, destroyed two miles of .Loilisvi111l~:• · called "The Friday the 13th monster"
streets. It toolt nearly two years to repair the sewer lines, and several more months to finish street repairs. · ·.I)::,::· , had "gasped its last breath."
--·- ... .-•-----··· ·--·. ····---·--~-.:..:... ...:. ---~.--...... ...:__.:_
___.. -.-.·•.:.."(,·•",,'..'.
That's when the last manhole cover
poppedup at SecondStreet and Burnett
Avenue.
 ·..· Companyofficialsoffered no corlf), ·.
·ment: · ·· ·· · ·· . · ... :~/:_:,.
Sundays coverageincludeda stocyfr, ::
by Detjenthatdetailed the area's mariyf,'
. environmentaltroubles, includingthe:··-
illegaldumping of hazardous waste at~'··.
"The Valley of the Drums" in Bullil.\(
<::ounty,a chemicalbarge accidentand:;:•·.
the headline: "Region needs to take?,:
more stabs to slaytoxic dragon." . .··(;:,'·..·
.· Despitethe explosion,R.C.Watts:of::'./
the LouisvilleandJeffersonCountyCtv~'.
il PreparednessOfficetold Detjenthat~.•
"Things are much, much better.than',,:::
· they
--- _____ ____
were two years ago."
.________
, ., ,--- _.. --
· ~ :-~~". _
 • : Thepollutantsthat ousinesses
: put into.the air of Loursvilleand
: JeffersonCountyarethereas a
: · resultof makinggoodsand
: seNicesthat residentsuseevery·
:• day and that providejobs for the
· : peoplewh~\makethem. -~

hi~page includesinformationon the . PROVIIJING

ELECTRICITY
FORATYPICAL.
LOUISVILLE
HOMEIN2.0
T
· ·
amountsof differentcategoriesof. ·
pollulionfrom some of the largest-.
industrialsourcesas they have
been reportedto federaland local ·
Louisville
Gas& ElectricCo.'sMillCreekpower lant
(Thetypicalhomeisathree-beq. use with 1,800s · ·- ·

regulators.
Usingthenation'sleadingoverallre
of pollution- th$ U.S.Environment
ProtectionAgency'sToxicsReleaseI
· or TRI,whichtracks some 650 c
compounds- 11also providesa
how muchtoxic air pollutionis c
makinga sportulility vehic]e·and
electricityto power an avera
Ford MotorCo.'s Louisville
on FernValleyRoad and L
ElectricCo.'sMillCreekpo
the top industrialpolluters ..
accordingto the EPA'sTRI data for
previousyears.
The TRIfigures.do n
entireamount•pf
measuredin po·
plants put out. T
not available.

PRODUCING
A.
SPORTUTILITY
VEHICLE
'
IN2001
Ford'sLouisville
AssemblyPlant
. Employees: 3,600
l!l Pollution reportelj .toEPAfor Toxics
Release Inventory:759,338pounds
!!I Vehicles produced:282,042 . ·
Ill TRI pollution per vehicle: 2.7 pqunds
BY COMPANY
Inpounds
peryearasreported
totlleU.S.EPA's
ToxicsRelease
Inventory.
Companies
rankedby2001figures.
 ,, MQNDAY,JULYi4, 2003
1

II

I II
i---- ··----·~.,

l
-To ·ir ·struggl to
···-···-·-··-- ·-

o:reathe

BYPAMSPAULDING;
THECOURIER-JOURNAL
JeremyBell said, "Whena car startsup nextto me, suddenlyI can'tbreathe."He takes.severalmedicationsto controlhis asthma.
 Hospitalizationshigh
in some loc_alareas
B! JAMES
BRUGGERS
jbruggers@courier-journal.com
TheCourier-Journal
· Childrenwho live fu a swath of ZIP codes ex-
tending from the West End to Buechelare more
likelythan othersto be hospitalizedfor asthmaat-. ;
tacks,new researchshows. ·
Anda possiblecontributor?Louisville'sbad air.
· . AresearchstudybyepidemiologistTimAldrich
and Dr.FayeJones;professorsat the Universityof
LouisvilleSchoolof Public Health and.Schoolof
Medicine,showsthat the mostaffectedareasare in
the WestEnd,Portland,downtown,OldLouisville
andBuechel,withhospitalizationrates in somear-
eas exceedingnationalaverages.
The pair's research also
showed the highest levels of
adult asthma hospitalizations
almostexclusivelyin northwest
Louisville, from the Rubber-·
town area to western Butcher-
town.Asthmais a chronicrespi-
ratory illness characterized by.
episodes or attacks of inflam-
. mationand narrowingof small_
airwaysin the lungs. • . ttuc~ traffic _fo_r~.e1tb~rct:ausing
Aldrich and Jones said a
number of factors could be re-
sponsiblefor the asthma clus-
ters, includingeconomiccondi-
tions.Buttheysaidtheycouldn't ..
rule out Louisville'soften-pol-
lutedair as playinga rolein their
findings. · Dr, Beverly
·· A newly documentedprob. Gainessaid
lem with hazardous air pollu- · African · ·
tants in LouisvilleaJefferson Americans
Countymaybe a factor,Jones,a..·may not get
pediatrician,said. "It's not go- the proper
ing to explainall of (the hospi- levelof care.
talizations) - and i.naybenot • ·
even half." But she said air-samplingresults that
revealedthe highlevelsofpollutantsmakeher sus0
picious.· · .dept11
~It'sworrisome,"Jones said.
Dr.StevenRedd,chiefofthe air pollutionrespis
ratoryhealthbranch ofthe NationalCenterfor En-.
vironmentalHealthat the Centersfor DiseaseCon-
trol and Preventionin Atlanta,said other research
has shown a link between elevatedground-level•
ozone,a key contributorto smog,aridemergency ·
roomvisitsfor asthma attacks.
Studieshave also correlatedasthma emergen- •
cy room visitsto high levelsof fine particlepollu- :
. '
tion;he said.
••·,
"Thereis clea_rlya rel!ltionshipbe~ /
-·""";
tweenoutdoorair pollutionand asth- .
mat Reddsaid: ·
An EPA report released.last fall'
ranked Jeffers.on~aunty first among:
. 736 counties m eight Southeastern ·
.. statesfor _healthris~ from.hazardous ·
air pollutants,The EPAhas:also sug- :
· gestedthat ozonecouldbe resp<msible.·
-._for~much a~a_qu~~r 9fall pediatric ._
-hospitalad1TI1ss1ons for-asthma.'.·-, .·.,
.. . J~nes,an associateprofessorofpe: .
diatricsat the U of L medicalschool :
· saidthe mappingshe did·witl:i Aldrich ;
rais~s.questionsthat willrequire furs ·
therresearch.- :·· · .· · . : ·: •·
•·_ She.and Aldrich,an'associatepro'.'.
fess<>rm. t!3-e;School of Publicijealth,
. are :-V°.r~1n~ to. develop·aciditional.
. studies:that may:start.'toanswer such.·
q1:1estions; ~s,well asto help.people
wit~ asthma ~tay out ofthe hospital:
, Their ef{orts.are part of a.broader ,
; healthinitiative to leam,moreabout
·· asthniathroughout Kenhicky. ·' ::•• ': :'
•· · . Louisvilleresident Antissa Wells,·
:Vholivesin one of the asthmaclusters
rn a home at Greenwood·Avenue.and·
. 29th Street,-~011Idgive'tllem a :firsts
hand ac.c~unt,c~efls:blames heavy· ..
or in-.· ·
flammg her 3-year-old son Arman's
asthma<. · · ·
Arn16n suffers from chi-orti~ astt-
~a, ari'd'.hi$.giother.said that dust
ki_cked up fromtheroad and dieselex-
. :h~tISt tan.tioQ,?egoodf<irher son. . .··
· ,:,t}feeMikeJ:Iivein a:high pollution•
:r~i~l~
.·-.........
1e~:iLLMfts$··
'.P.~diatri.c
ho.!(pit~IJzations,
·•···;.J1e;;::::::t:.~:r~!fAJdrich·
and !O!!.f~s mapped all_asthmahospital
... adm15:>1ons for JeffersonCourity.resf-:
20.QQ
1.1.1 and 2001.
·.·' pie stu_dyfOUJ?.d tiiatra1ei
for pedi-
atn(!_hosp1tahzat1ons from'asthma in
the¢ain do.wntownZIP code
m 2000
. an_d~0,0lw~_retliehighes't;~tnear
.. twicethenatiqnalaverage,\vhilesome
,of the other ideritifiedZIPcodeswere
15 to _36times higher than inthe east-
· .>em_JeftersoriJ'.ourifycityofJ:i/ospect,
~ht~hhadarngng fhe.,l<>\Vest h0spital-
izat1onr.:i.tes_ /;_:!
inthe c6~n.ty.; .
. "'·'°TT1et?tal I\u,mbe:~tofcp~qia,t:ric
hos-
. :Plt~izationsoverthe j:wo,yea:rs}anged
::fromOto 38,·depe:r1giiig' ori';theZIP
code. But t~e _researcherscpi:npared
th?se adm1ss10nsto the number of
childrenin each ZIPcodeand then de-
tenn~ed arate basedon a conii.honde-
nommatorof 100000. . -0~
Those: rates 't~pp~_dat§72 per
100,000for ZIP code 402-02followed
by 435 in 40208,292:fo.40203 .243in
40212_and242 in 402UL · ' · •··
Al~rich and Jones consideredev-
erythmgabove 160per 100;000to be
b1gh;the other ZIP codesthat exceed-
edthat rate were 40220 (168)·40211
(194);40210 (183);40204 (18,0)and
40215(180). . ·
.·; :i1'l'ai:fonally,pedia1:ri6.asthmahospi~
.talizationsJncreased from 160 per
0100',000 in 1980to 290·in1999;accord-
jng t,oth~ Centers for Disease Control .
and Pteveptiqn.. . ··
< Natiorially,.asmany as 6.3 milli?n .
•<:hildren~ 9:percent ~ have the 1ll-
a
pes$,.accordingto recentreport on
en.vironmentatchealtqfrqm the EPA.
'Ql~fha~ ~Q\Vll frmn an 'estimated 4
,percent of cnildrenJn 1980.. · .•
:··•'"Jonessaid shef'l\'QJ;tdered whether
.aufomobile,andJrucl5.~x.batistmight
..·explaiI1thAhjgh?;i,rat'es,(a:fter noticing
that fre~)Y?,;¥§Jnterse.et wany; ofthe
ZIP codes;with greater levels of asth-
ma, <''/// ..·..· ·.•.,: .·..·.·•C'\( . ;
.. Whileair.pollutionis one potential
factor;the researchers.arefiridingthat
· the ZIP codeswith higlj,M,c!yecyhigh
rates of a:sthi:naadmissions also have
higher-than,~11,verage,fates of poverty,
·srp.okingand illiteracy.Som.eare p~e~
dominantlyAfricanAmerican; · . ··
These factors taken together, they
...$ay,mayreduce'afamily's access to
·healthcareand the abilitytotreat asth~
ma successfullyat home, which could
preventh.9spitaliz1;1tiqns; They_alsofol-
lowriationaltrends fofurban areas.
Studies suggestthat AfricanAmer~
icans, who are more lik.elyto suffer .., ·
from asthma, may.not always.get the j
proper medkine ..to treat. their .symp-
toms, said Dr.BeverlyCrames,aLo~IS:.l
yille p~di.a.frlcian;md a former vice l
. pre~i~entof the ~atiop.a,\1\1,edical ~- \
sociation,a group Qfabout25,000Afn° !
·can~:A:mericai1physicians. ··· . · • !
. '''''.The greater burden ofsickness I
a:nd death from asthma in African
Americans is no doubt:a complex is-
sue. However,the. differences in the
wi:tys:J\fricariAmerica,nsare treated
a
appea(t/'.rbe c;ontribµtingfact()r."·. .
>S.he.i~d,fQr,ex!J,Il1ple, tbat4frican
Arrie'ri,ca1;1s
sometimes don't get the .
SaJ;tl~,l~V,~l
or riot :.··
of:~;:i:i;e
..
as .PeQpl~in other
group~'7'fy.rheth.,ertheyhavem~urance
· • .· . . .
"Weneed foexainine the medical
sy§f~mfFiJndjI).g issues affect howpeo-
plf:~;~t~en car¢.9f.'\ • · · ··., ·.•· ,
"ITWAS
DBSHEARTENING"
..
Lo'a'iisliiile
native sees · · ·
'impacw~,
poah.itfoo
•·.
jiati~e iiri Walker,who .
. I.oi11sville
grew up in theWest End an,dattended
high scl100Ldowntown and has suf-
fered from asthma for most of his life;
agrees that a variety of'factors likely
contributeto his illriess. .. , ,
· The 19-year-oldEastem Kentucky '
Universitypsychologymajbrand track
an:dfieldathlete saio.he might have in-
herited asthma, and acknowledged \
·.that adult smokers in his childhood ·;,.How.~:ver, he willnaveto ..vait. .<
home didn'thelp'his condition. . . ; :T~~Nn~ ofstuciyconducteqatUSC: .
·•··•.Buthe blamedLoµisville'sair qual- costs\nulhons.of.dollars arid takes.
ity prqblems for triggering at least many;years,G?.tjderman·said. · · . · ...·
sqine of his asthma attacks. From his Jones arid Aldrichused their map~.
fromein.theWestEnd, he couldwatch .. ping ,df th:ea~thri:l~dusters in an at- '
smoke.billowing toward Louiijville i tempt last year to get a CDCgrant to \.
)frQm a,large coal-fired power plant / stti.cly, the poUutiqiiaspects of Louis- ,
viqefasthma, but their proposal was •·
,.iictc[ss:.the·ohlo River near:NewAlba~·j
;;:wr~tM<It1"~·d\~~el:llienirigjor tnetriI _.riotJ\l,rtcled: Aldrich said the CDCin- .·
\'!l.e'<:lfth~mpumpmg out the;:smoke.I 1 tendgd tq select twoprojects but ofl5 • •
•··didn'fliketo be out there." · r .......· proposals/'.! don't Wnk:we were defi~•
'•',··-~Wr?If>uisvillewas out:ofcomplF•I cient,"Al~richsai<;L"Wewerejustii.ew.: ..
kidsinthefray/'.~ ·•'.· · · ., • ··.· '; ·.·.·
~t;}lP.Q;~,:;'ifi!#.Qt.t
~~X:~)grJ~µndlevt:l•.:1 0
..· .Whilethe two'.saythef will contm~·
'•,ozonestand. ·morethantwo dee<
:.~O:es/pm:Jik,G9 Zfµtocorni>HiiH;e:rn;J ue to explore the ·polfotion angle in·
. ?9QL):l~t t}-ie·r~,m.orf
has cqntiiiuedto:: f, · sm,allresearch projectsby tapping ~he.
: exceei:la,totighet o:i:oI).e standard es- I ··· · . servi.cesofmedical students, they're :
Jablishedi:ijJ~97JgattheU.$.Environ;. ·; ·retoolingfora majorgraritproposalto
·mentalprotection .t,\gencysaysit wnn.
·focu·smore generallyon preventionof :
:lfegih.efif
6rc;ipgne'kt,ye.ar., • >; ... I
~,:J1r-themetro· area:.:t .-.;ari;.estimated t· ..... .•.
.>
sym])t{)ms.:
.•.
·· · ·
_:__;_____:.. ____ · · ·
• ',. • - • •• • > • , . -: • . .-. •
----- ·~·· • • ~
l~,000chil,dren•anq 35i000adi.µt~hav~;[
,a·sthllla;isaici,C'/1\olyn:Emb:ry, .:who•·•., __ ··
ita:cks enviioi:imenfalissiies,forthe.·l
~;;~~:f~L~~r~s.o~at~t}t-¥en~
.l ...... .
. ·· :~;rheJactthafw'ehavebadairiscer~ •
tainly a.cause for concerij/if ncit ·
alarm)' she said: "We need'to•takec'
steps to protect the health ofci~F.Citi':;
;;
;z:enst ·.; . . . ·•· . ·,~::.<,,,
.
··· Sqme rese~rchers.are focusn:i1fori:.•
i ' indoor air}iuality,including the pres?>
ence of.tobacco smoke; dust.mites,/;;
cockr~a,chesand allergies.,Othersare/;
lookingafoutdoor envircimn!!ntiu poHt
\utants, fi;omdieselemissionsto smog~,,'i -
causing«;>z<>11~totiny p~cles ofsoot. .:•I
· . Atthesametime,researchh.asbeen·.;
less·conclusive 6n:the. question oF •·•
whether air pollution can acft1ally'•··
cause new.asthma cases to o<:cur;said .••
Redd,withthe CDC::. .. . ·.. .... . :. ,
But.one re·centstudy iri Southern ' 0
· Californiahas connectedthe two:·· ·..· ; , 1· ·
. A Universityof Southern California ••·/
study publishedlast year in the medi:. · 1···
•cal journal Laneetfound that children:
· who competein sports in communities..·· ...
I
with 1horeheavilypolluted air were tip··~
to th.reetimes more likely·tobediag-
nosed with asthma than other chil- ·
··ctren. · ·· · · •.
· The results based on air pollution'.:
data and medicalrecords fromJ:heLos ..
Angeles·are::1 wouldlikely applytooth,
er regionsof the countrywith high lev- '.,
els of ozone, said associate professor . t
Jim Gauderman, an epidemiologist i··
..andstatisticianin the USC Depart-:,!
ment of PreventativeMedicine. !
.''Ozoneis ozone," he said. "If that !
truly is the.badplayer,then ozoneany~..J
where otightto carr,ysome.risk:)', ..··. !
Di Rice-Leach,Kentucky1s.public ..
health director,said he wantsto know · '
what's responsibleforLoutsville'sele- . •
vated asthma levels. "If I don't know
what is causing it, I don't know how to
prevent it; Any research that would
nail downthe cause orcauses.opens
the door to preventirigit."
 ..,.
$!
$1 A~bma :
- -,no_
,\t'b:r::~1w1tlI\\,
.. ~•~;....•
,;
_.,."~•.~
.,
$:
"i
Tlie NationalHeart,Lung andBla.qd
, lhstttutehas establishedj:1atioha:t·.··
~ ·.
• I
i
Asthma is an incurable but
treatable chronic lung disorder.
. ~,
•!

'/;I
I : Q.oalsfodheproper rria'ijagem13,r\t·L
of asthma,but a new ~tµdy~f)pws.•• .
. f_t\§tthose
· ;.'e j
:r;iotbein.grtiet.. ~ ,
.goalsarE:l
'.i /!
Airways in the lungs, called .
.:1 : N~tional · • ::·., i,>{· ·
bronchioles, becemerswollen,:
clogged and overly sensitiveto
environmentalchanges such as
~,
•i
•:
:gpals
{·. •
:.<:i,ii
,_.''}'.·)
: /.~:~
"•1

poli\Jtionandpollen.·AttaGk$can:
range from .slight breathlessness
...
[
. <ii_[
.
to respiratoryfailure.
. .
.~;
~:
~~
ii
=::~iflli~1~~i~i
• Dlfficultybreathing.•·. . .. ..
.. r-•-·-·--·--·-----·-
•·
~
I

--··--·-·-·-···
:1gg~_§f9ilm.iic!~-4!~1'~i~·
··~
illliWheezing. .
· Trigger;u1f
attack~·
ilif¢.9D~~mauatWif~~1itY~~~~
·. ..•.. ... . ... .. . .~- .

. •. .

••
, .....
·@

••
$
.~
·' $
·.'. ""'·
· 48 percentlimited
Maintf,l.in· iii sports/:. .·._ ·
normal ·.•.
recreatioil•,:35· . - ·· .. ,;.
_:$
-~..;~·•-•- activity·· · percentlimitediii · $.
., levels . normalphysical It:
exertion;25 • ·
·• About5,dOQ are
cases reported,
C,

• _ percentlirnttedin · e
.. eachyear in the Unite.dStates
h
•
,•
.socialactivities. · · · ' ii, l.
'··'!,
~
.\
I
•• !

..
·,ji·
·,i,

-~
··. $

-~
Is . , •...
•
·sia
"'··.
··•·
·~
•
.. lt,-
souFicE: AMA ENcvciLOPE tA• o;:<..
MEDICINE;ASTHMAI~ AMERICA,SURVEY
.$
t"f
!it .• OF 2,509 ASTHMASUFFERERS; 512; . $·.
... ~·,J DOCTORSAND 1,000MEMBERSOF
<,_,
. i ···~
.. ·.:
.GE]',IERALPUBUC,:

GANNETTNEWS§ERVICE

. ~ '

•
· _ . _ _ _ . · . . . . BYSAM.UPSHAW
JR.,JHE;COURIER..JOlJ8t,IAU
Jones studied asthma hosp!talizations in Louisville and found high number~ ir:i
"oriFayeJo~~;, ~hecked,Joshua and Saman_tha_Wh!l_e. iion,e:'.11}a~;j:
. ,. - .. - .. - . • . . " . •.-,.,_,,,.
.•,,...,, ..a.,c- ... - • - .., • - . - -· .• ·,-. - - . ~ ----. ___
:.. ,.:.::.:~~~-~-~-=--- :;..,:·
.;::, :- '.-~:~~-:;1\>:··.
~:~~/ '.:'f~-~~·:-·

. · . . · .BY.PAM
SPAULDING,
THECOURIER-JOURNAL
Jon Walker,who grew up in·theWest End and attendedhigh,schooldowntown,has suffered.asthma mostof
his life. Fromhishome he couldwatch smoke billowing
.
toward Louisville
.
from
.
an Indiana
I
powerplant.
.........
____
·9 Moret~an209cas.es@er100.,000.
c«:bil~i'~!l
':. :.:
.. rt!P89-208casesper1oo;lioo
children
i.·'!11160 to188casesper.100;000
children.
 OCTOBER26, 2003 i
-S-UNDAY,
-- -- -----------

•
...
"
.."
".. -
"..
••
•..
""•·
"•..-
..•
0 -------------------------- - -----
·--~------~-
- --· ··~ --- .
·-
••
"•"

A six-pagespecialsection
Environment, todayexploresthat conflict,
Rubbertown'shistory,its fu-
_competition ·, ture,and viewsof someof its
workersas part of a two-day _
maydetenriine series.
Tomorrow'sinstallment
· ·

plants'future will tellreaders what hap-

penedto a Louisiananeigh-
borhoodthat was next to a
Fromthe solesof.your · chemicalplant and aboutone
shoesto the paint on your Louisvilleneighborhoodthat
houseand the plastichoses is in a similarposition:
and tires on yourcar, the
chemicalsand other com-
poundsmade atthe 11plants .
_. atthe heart of Rubberi:own are
intertwinedwiththe livesof a
largelyunknowingpublic.
Theplantsalsoprovide
·· 2,200jobs, somepaying
$60,000a year or more,yet "I
don'tknowif peopleevenhave
a sensefor howmanypeople
actuallyworkin the chemical
industryin Rubbertown,"said
MikeSanchez,managerof
Louisville'sDuPontplant.
Whatthe publicdoesknow
is that the plantsin western
Louisvillehavecontributedfor
decadesto the pollutionin the
air theybreathe.Withrecent
studiesindicatingthat some
toxicemissionsfrom Rubber-
townreach acrossthe commu-
nity,the plantsare becoming
evenmore of a focusfor peo-
ple tiredof odorsand fearing
for their health.
"Peopleare just sickand
tiredof this,"saidMetroCoun- ·
cilmemberCheriBryantHam-
ilton.
It's a conflict- the struggle
betweenprotectingthe com-
munity'shealthand the health
of a significanteconomic SomoresidentsJnweslemtouisv!lle, foreground,wantchemlcalcompaniesIn the
enginethat's facingincreasing ~~.~b~~~~-'-~~ustrlal area, top, to furthorcleon !heir plants' arremissions.
, .• .; _..,z
..•;~·
..:.::::~~-:,
overseascompetition.
 ANXIETIES AIRED
-----
ompani s less assur d
- -----
ByJAMES
BRUGGERS
jbruggers@courier-journal.com
TheCourier.Journal
When a Rubbertown chem-
. ical plant announced a year ago
·that it was movingto Louisiana,
Metro Council member Cheri i-
.BryantHamiltonsaid she hpp~d I
the closing would reduce toxic i
air pollution and be the first of 1
"manyto come." . 1
Her comment sent a chill I
through managers and workers
at 11piants .inw~stern Louis-
ville's Rubbertown industrial f
area, which collectivelyemploy,
about2,200peoplewith average '
annualpay of $50,000. · ern Louisville from 2000 and
"It was really disappointing
that an elected official and re-
spectedperson in the communi-
ty would only see the negative
things and.not the positive
things - the jobs, the revenue
andtax dollars,"said DanHicks,
spokesman for the Rohm and
_H!~ Co.pl~t on CampGround.j
Road."If that impact isn't being
seen, then I guess we're not do- -
ing a good job of getting the !
word out." : vironmental Protection Agency
Hamilton, D-5th District,'
who re.presents northwest i
Louisville;acknowledged rais- ·
..ingeyebrowswith her remarkto
· The Courier-Journal last year
aboutthe pending closureof the
DuPont Dow Elastomers plant.
But she defended it by noting '
that her western Louisvillecon- '
stituents are frustrate~ and_be~
lieve that Rubbertown compa-
niescoulddo much moreto low-
er emissionsand operate safely.
"Peoplearejust sickand tired
of this," she said. "Welove the '
area. We don't want to move."
The uneasy chemistry
among Rubbertown officials,
workers and their residential
neighbors is long-standing. It ,
began even as Rubbertowntook
shape in the early 1940sas part
of the federal government's ef-
fort to produce syntheticrubber
- --------- ---
during WorldWar II, according
· to interviewswith longtimeresi-
dents, published reports in The
Courier-Journaland a landmark
air-pollution study done in the
1950s. · .·
And despite large cuts in :
plant emissions over the dec-
ades, the levelof discontenthas
· continuedto rise, fueled in part
recently by revelations about
toxic compounds in the' air and
!•·. safety concerns related to the
Sept. 11,2001,terrorist attacks.
I· · For.example: •. . ,
: II A Courier-Journalanalysis
' of air sampling mostly in west-
2001identified 18 chemicalsor j
· compounds at concentrations !
that greatlyexceeded levelsthat '
local, state and federal officials
consider safe. The highestread-
ings were near Rubbertown.··
... II A privat~.~.i:msultant's
air
draft analysisofthe same sam-
ples projected cumulative risks
I over decades·of maximumexpo-
sure that were, at some monitor-
ing sites, higher than the U.S.En-
had previouslyestimatedfor any-
where in the country.
Iii Since the Sept. 11attacks,
workers and neighbors have ex-
pressed fears over sec11rityand
safety inside some Rubbertowil
plants and at a rail yard next to an
elementaryschool.
II Lawyershave filedtwo law-
suits against the Noveonplant on
Bells Lane following a chemical
releasethis summerthat sent acid
vapors into a nearby neighbor-
hood. And the Rev. Louis Cole-
man and his Justice Resource
Center, backed by new support
from national environmentalex-
perts and Greenpeace, are con-
ducting their own air testing and
are asking the companiesto pay
for relocating residents who live
near the plants.
CarolynQuinn,a 43-yearresi-
dent of Sunset Avenue.less than
two miles from Rubbertown's
BellsLane plants, said neighbors
just want something done. "Alot
of times we can't enjoy the out-
doors because of the air."
-- .: ---.. --------.
··· State Rep. ReginaldMeeks, a ;
Democrat who represents the \
area said that for many years, '
residents didn't feel free to ex-· ;
press such complaintsbecause ?f
· concerns about Rubbertown-s
economichealth. ..·. . ·
"It's almostas if we're not sup-
posedto speak up on these issues
because of the threat they may
leave,':Meekssaid. · ·
But that's changing, he said,
adding,of the plants:"Ithin~they
will leave anyway,once their eco-
nomicvitality is over."
Tom FitzGerald, a Louisville
lawyer working on the Noveon
lawsuits and director of the Ken-
tuckyResourcesCouncil,an envi-
ronmental group, agreed with
Meeksthat things are changing.
· "You are starting to see the
confluence of issues that have
raised publiccon~ems,~d rais_ed
public frustrations, he sa1~.
"People are now able to see i_n
black and white that iI1fact their
concerns are legitimate. ·
"I would suspect that unless
industry comes forward with ~n
aggressiveplan (to redl!,ceerm~-
sions quicldy)... they will be dn-
ven by the courts to do so."
Meetia,g a need
had its costs I
The hist01yof Rubbertown~e-
l
gins more that 60 years ago,with
the government spending $92.4
millionto establishfivesynthetic-
rubber plants in an industriala~d
farming area just outsidethe city
limits.By1944the plants employ-
ed 4,000 people and :,y,erethe
world's leading supplier of the f
product. . .. . ..
The location was ideal, said .
Charlie Hunton, a former Rohm
and Haas employee who now is ·
facilitator for the Rubbertown •
CommunityAdvisoryCouncil,an
industry-supported group of .
plant managers,governmentem-
ployees and local residents.
There·was ample grain alco-
hol from Shivelydistilleriesthat
could be turned into butadiene, a
keyingredientin makingsynthet-
ic rubber.Electricity,workers and
transportation we~eplentiful.
 But emissionsfrom the plants
quickly'became a problem, said
fom Owen,a Louisvillehistorian
who was born in 1939- the year
his parents purchased a home in ·
the Parkland.neighborhood,
·withintwo miles of Rubbe1town.
"I remember my mother com-
. plaining of what we called soot,
just overlayingthe furniture ev-
ery two days,"hesaid.
Governmentdocumentsshow
tlie city and Jefferson County
were tackling Rubbertownemis-
sions, alongwith other industrial
sources of pollution, as early as
the mid-1950s.A report by the
U.S. PublicHealth Servicefor lo-
cal governmentdated 1956-1957,
for example, called for new re-
strictions, although iL_described
pollution in Louisville as no
worse than other cities. · ·
While the report reniarked ,
that at least the poilutionwasn't 1'
killingtrees and other vegetation, I ___
it oointed out that residents east I
a:ridnorth weie I
,,~. of Rubbertown
. ········-··· ~---:·.--:s-••
complainingabout "tear-produc-
ing, nose-tinglingor cough-caus-
ing pollution." · , · Even long-agoincidentskeep
Over the years, the issue of
race also has come into play.
When the plants were built in
the 1940s,there were far fewer'
homes in western Jefferson
County than now, and the city's
developedWestEndwas predom-
inantlywhite,althoughthere was
one black neighborhood near
Rubbertown, about where Park
DuValleis now, that went by the
name LittleAfricaor BlackPark- .
land, Owensaid. · Louisville Metro Air Pollution
With the post~World War II
economic boom, thousands of
homeswere addedto westernand
southwestern Louisville,·putting
many more people closer to the
Rubbertownindustrial area, said
Owen, who is also on the Metro
Council. · the industry said we want our ·
Over the past few decades,
manywhiteresidentsleftthe area
and moreblack residents arrived.
Owen attributed the change to
factors ranging from those early ,
air pollution problems.to "white ;
flight" that peaked during social
unrest of the 1960s and down-
town urban renewal that dis-
placed black residents.
As the Rubbertownarea com-
panies have continued to put·
emissions into the air each year,
activists like Coleman have re-
s ponded by raising concerns ·
about "environmentaljustice" or
"environmentalracism"- based .
on beliefs that minorities in the
United States often shoulder an
excess burden of pollution.
Meanwhile, the number of
people employedat Rubbertown
has dropped; there are about
2,400fewer employeesthan dur-
ing peak employmentin the late
1960s,when the plants employed
more th:m 4.600Vlorkers.
This means fewer foiiisville
families receive direct financial
benefitsfromthe companies,and
it cuts into political support for
the plants, FitzGeraldsaid.
_ who represents the' Riversidei
A history of spills, accidental
releases and explosions at the
plants that have resulted in
deaths or evacuations,have exa-
cerbated residents'·fears.
some residents on edge, such as ·! ·
one 38 years agowhen aseries of
explosions leveled the DuPont
plant on CampGroundRoad,kill-
.· · ing 12workers. . Jefferson County Community '
"I will never forget that day,"
saidIvaUpshaw,a westernLouis-
ville resident whose husband,
R.C.,worked at the plant and es-
caped with his life.She heard the
explosionsfrom her home about
two milesfrom the plant
Companies built
culture of secrecy
It didn't help that for decades,·
the companiesworked to keep to
themselves.
"When I started out, most of
plants to have high fences (the
public) can't see through," said ·
RogerLaCosse, who managed
the Noveon plant on Bells Lane i
until taking anotherpositionwith·
the companyearlierthis year. ··
Thatwas the wrongapproach, \
he said, and it beganto change 10 :·
to 15years ago,as chemicalcom-
panies in Louisvilleand across '
the nation beganto formcommu- ·
nity advisorycouncils.
RohmandHaas was a pioneer ,
in developing such councils, .
starting one in 1986.
Since then, the council has ·
met monthlyto discussplant op- ·
erations and has been involvedin ,
numerous communityoutreach ·
activities,includingan employee
mentoring program at nearby •
Cane RunElementarySchool;af- ·
ter-schoolprograms;and repairs
and painting of neighbors'
homes.
The company has taken its
council members on occasional
expense-paidtrips to visit plants
in other states.
"I willneverforget
that day,"said Iva
Upshaw;whose
husband.survived
explosionsthat
killed12 peopleat
the DuPontplantin
1965.She heardthe.·
explosionsfrom
.her home, about
two milesfromthe..:
plant.
.BYJAMIERHODES,
. SPECIALTOTHE
.COURIER.JOURNAL·
i
Company officials "treat us I
pretty nice,"·saidHelen Haskett,/
Gardens area on.the Rohm and\' ·..
Haaspanel. .. ·. · ·
Other companies have fol-I
lowed suit, either starting or ex-!
panding their outreach and to- I
gether cr7ating ~he Rubbert?"".111
CommumtyAdvisoryCouncilm
1991. . · .
The companiesalsotake pride \
in their participationin the West \
TaskForce,whichoversawthe air
monitoring that has brought so
much attentionto them this year.
It's a collaboration among gov-
ernment, the Universityof Louis-
ville, industries and representa-
tives fro:m citizen groups that
ControlDistrictDirectorArt Wtl-
liamsdescribedas extremelyval- :
uable. :
"It's kept the differentparties i
at the table for a long time," he ! ..
said. . . .. I
Rohm and Haas' Hicks ac-
lmowledgesthat the active com-
munityinvolvementandfinancial
contributions are "intended to
. build a· bank account of good .
will."
"Is there enough good will in
the bank account?I don't lmow." .
Critics complain that the •
plants are only buying loyalty, ·
and they questionwhether mem-
bers of the advisorycouncilscan
be objective.
: For example, both the Rohm
.
 · Peoplegathered InAugust near a Rubbertownplant on BellsLane to !ant cros
.t_h•Y t~)'.~'.dledpremat":'elybecause".! health problems ~ssociateJ:~~nporr~o'.~-'b~"::a~~•~ff~~a1!~~~i;!f~)~~::;;:~,~~:dp!s:!'~:i!: ~;,~:~~ ;
-~~~i•;.:::~Y.
· and ;~~s council and ~ubb-er-
t?wn CommunityAdvisoryCouni
c_ilrew1:1-rd
member~ for.their par·
t!c1pation by ~akmg contribu~
tlons to a chanty chosen by the.
council member; iri some cases, i
anorganizationthecouncilmem-\
her represents. · \
Nine of 11companies that par-
ticipate in the larger Rubbertown
council disclosed their recent
overall charitable giving. Rohm
and Haas for the past five years
has contributed between
$106,000and $140,000 annually;
Noveon, from $10,000to $17,000
.. annually since 1998; Atofina, an
average of $21,600 a year since
1999; Zeon Chemicals, between
$28,538 and $53,309 ayear since
1999;OxyVmyls,between $6,000
and $12,000 annually since the
companywasfonnedml999; Dt.i-
Pont Dow Elastomers, a total of,
$250,000 since the company:
formed in 1996; Borden Chem-!
ical, Inc., between $30,000 and!
· $50,000 a year; DuPont, $30,000:
per year; and PolyOne,$3,000peri
year since 1998:
American Synthetic Rubber!
Co. decliiied to detail its commu-l
nity support. Carbide Industriesi
LLC,which took over the former!
Carbide/Graphite Group Inc.i
plant on BellsLane in 2002,hasn't;
begun charitable giving yet, said :
its manager, Frank Sizemore.
Tom House, a local Sierra -
Club leader, is among those;
whose favorite charities received :
do~ations because of his partici- ·
pation on the Rubbertown coun-
cil. The Sierra Club Foundation is i
receiving $500 a year from the ·.
Rubbertown group - money that
he said comes back to the local
chapter of the club. But House,
who has recently left the council
said the gift didn't affect his view~
or those of other local Sierra Club
leaders.
He acknowledged that some
environmentalists believe that he
and others lend their support to
the chemical industry simply by
d .
·. participating on the pa;ei~B~t-
that's wrong-headed, he said: "In \ · · ne_ighb..ors, sai.d_D.r.M
order to ~ave an effect, you need
to be participating in that forum."
Cliff Hatdaway,pl~t manag-
er. at the Borden Chemical plant ·
on Camp Ground Road, said the
companies also realize they have
io ,do mor~ than don~te money:
Its ?lore tmportant m the com-
muruty to be a volunteer."
Defenders in
the"'"""ffl· •tu
. - fflUOl~,r .
· Some advisory board mem-
•.bers have become vocal support-
ers of the plants. They include
Haskett, who said Rubbertown
emissions don't bother her, and
Joyce Korfhage Rhea, who does
not live in the area but was raised
inShivelyinthelatel950sandop-
erated a pharmacy on Can!'!Run
RoadnearRubbert6wnformany
years.
About two years ago, she tum-
edthepharri:lacybuildingintothe
All Care Community Center for
: youth activities, which has re-
ceived donations from the chem-
ical plants. . . committee.
. Rhea argues that the dona-,
tions are more than appropriate._;
Fortoolong,shesaid,theRubber-:
tow~ I?lantsgave too little to local •·
chanties. · ·
· Two points she often makes:
II The community focuses too ,
much on Rubbertown as a source •
.of_pollution anci not Elllough__ <ln,
motor vehicles and other indus-
tries. · bad" in front of their peers and
II People forget or don't know ·
how bad the air was in the 1950s ·
and 1960s, and how much it has
improved. "There is no pollution
now compared to what it was in
the war years and postwar years."
She said Rubbertown area res-
idents should be equally con-
cerned about their lifestyles in-
cluding their diets. '
. · BYKETTHWlu.w.lS,
11-lECOURJER.JOURNAL
1
(~:.:.:~~g~:"i~i~i~1~:s"6ihl~iii \I:2. :
.. itch- r-------
.. ark.·.M
ell, former public health.director
in Hartford, Conn., who ptpyid¢s .......
· technicalassistance_totheJ;ustice I·
Resqurce Center. ·.· · .. > · ·
. · "It's a.blame,the-victim kind
of thing, and people know there is
more to itthan that( he said. "In
the Rubbertown area, you don't 1
have a choice of whether :to
breathe the toxins ornoe•
For their part, leaders of the
WestJefferson(;:quntyCommu-
nity Task Force, _thegroup over-
seeing the air monitoring study,
acknowledge that they walk a
~e line between pushing indus-
tnes to do mo!e and recognizing
that the chenucal plants provide
jobs and important products.
. . "There's no excuse for pollut-
ing our enviroriinent, but our·
comfort level is predicated by the.
fact that nearly everything:
arnundusisproducedbychemis- 1:
· try," said Peggy Boltori, a West
End resident who is chairwoman ·
of the task force board, as well as
the lar?er Rubbertown advisory ,,··
. Hunton, the Rubbertown
~ouncil's facilitator, said he be-
lieves the councils are effective ·
because they force plant manag-
ers to personalize their relation-
ships with people who live or
1
work in the area. ·
As a result, one of the most im-
portant parts of the meetings are
when plant managers report on
spills or accidents, no matter how
small, he said. None wantto "look
neighbors, he said.
Outcry grows,
reaches.more ears
Even as the advisory panels
cultivate support, the results of
the West Jefferson County task
force's air monitoringstudyhave
created a new urgency and inore
visibleopposition,includingreg-
ular protests and at least one act
of vandalism.A group callingit-
selfthe ToxicAvengersthis sum-
mer spray-painted "Pollution
Kills Kids ... We Kill Corpora-
tions" on a billboardon-the1200
block of East Oak Street.
Last May,within days of the
newspaper reporting the results
of the West County task force's
draft analysisof air samplingfor
toxic chemicals, managers from
three Rubbertown plants met
with MayorJerry Abramsonand .
subsequentl:yannounced volun,
tary emission reductions of
1,3-butadiene, a toxic pollutant . BYARZABARNETT,
THECOURIER-JOURNA~
-
foundat especiallyunhealthylev- Joyce KorfhageRhea,center,was surroundedbyyouthswho i
els near Rubbertown. · use the All Care CommunityCentershe operatesonCane Run./
T'ne mayor believes that the Road;whichhas receiveddonationsfrom Rubbertown
"jobsand the dollarsthat Rubber~ companies:Rhea said peoplefocustoo muchon the plants
townbringsto the commUility are and not enoughon other sciurc:!~f p~l.l!t~rr.,_
______
•
certainly important," said his
spokesman, Chad Carlton.."But
air qualityisfirst and foremosta
health issue." .
And high-ranking regional
EPAofficialshave been to Louis-
ville at least twice since May to
talk with local officialsand Cole-
man's team. One ofthem, region-
al air division director Beverly
Banister, promised the federal
agency will help Louisville.pin-
point its sources of hazardousair
pollutants and said the EPAwill
respondto "legitimate"air quality
concerns. . . · · :"
Yet Tim Duncan, a volunteer
with the Justice Resource Cert~
ter's RubbertownEmergencyAc-
tion program,expressedhis frus-
tration last month in a press con-
ference when he announcedthat
four air samples he and others
took showedhigh levelsof buta-
diene four months after the three
companiesmade their pledge.
"They are telling the mayor
one thing, and going back to the
factory and doing something
else,"Duncansaid.
Industrial changes cannot oc-
cur overnight,said TomHerman,
Zeon's environmentalmanager.
And the plants will be here
only as long as Louisvilleaccepts
them, said Hicks, the Rohmand
Haas spokesman. ·
"If we don't do what the com-
munity wants, they will shut the
place down and we'll go some-
place else."

ASSOCIATED
PRESS
Dr. Mark Mitchell stood outside a power plant in Hartford,
Conn., where he used to be public health director. He has given
technical assistance to the Justice Resource Center, which has
asked chemical companies to pay for relocating residents.
 HISTORY
: . . ~..
OF RUBBERTO.WN- .

. . .. . 1S44: W,;...kers inspect

· Instruments at the
DuPont neoprene plant.

..•1!.. ,.

. "It seems that the incidences

Brainand liverafflictionshigh \ of brain cancer were limited to
people hired prior to 1960,and it
amongex~GoogricJi~~1!1Ploye~~-
, •.
\ some
seems logical to speculate that
•
factor in their work envi-
l --- --- .. ~-. ---·· -
ronment in th,e early.years of the
. .ByJAMES
BRUGGERS plant operation, possibly expo-
jbruggers@courier-joumal.com . sures to a mixture of various
TheCourier-Journal chemicals, was respon~ ·.
. sible," said Greg Rem- .
Fear of cancer haunts current pala, University of
and p1:1.stemployees ~f one Rub- Louisville associate
bertown chemical producer. . professor of mathe-
· Nea.rly three decades after · matics and co-au~
doctors found a rare liver cancer ' thor of the study. .
in some workers at the former "Further in~ .
B.F.Goodrich chemical plant, re- vestigation of the
searchers have documented that i issue is definitely
other-workers there have died of i in order, as most
brain cancer at an unexpectedly I of these chem-
high rate. : icals are still in
Unlike the liver cancers, use today and, un-
which were directly linked to the : like vinyl chloride,
use of vinyl chloride at Goodrich, : they are largely un-
the r~searchers said they found it regulated."
virtually impossible to prove that The brain cancer
the toxic chemical alone caused victims died be- Ex-B.F.G odrich
16brain cancer deaths. tween 1963 and planfworker
Instead - and despite other 2000. All but one RevisCrecelius
research that has suggested a link· were hired in 1959or of Milltown,Ind.,
between vinyl chloride and brain earlier. died in 1995of a
cancer - their study suggests a rare liver cancer
mixture of chemicals could be to at age 61.
blame.

In .the study, !
Rempala and former
U ofLresearcher Dr.
Richard Lewis, now director. of '
occupational health at the Cleve- i
land Clinic Foundation, reported :
that they combed through medi~ •
cal records of 1,817 people who •
· worked at the Goodrich plant for •
at least one year before 1973, :
when the federal government be- i
gan to crack down on occupation- , _
al exposure to vinyl chloride. · •
The 16brain cancer deaths are
two to three times more than ex-
perts would expect, Lewis said.
. · While other medical experts
. previously found higher than ex- _
pected brain cancer mortality l
among former Goodrich work- / .
ers, the new study is the first to ·
look closely at the workers' esti- •
mated exposures to vinyl chloride !
and several other chemicals.. !.
· "There's no evidence that t~e.J
-peoplew~o aeveli:>pect .braincari0 j ..
cer had higher levels of exposure I
. to vinyl chloride than those who 1.•.
did not," said Lewis. . .. ··· i
· Lewis:and Rempala also did (
not find a link between the brain 1
. cancers and six other chemicals, j
including acrylonitrile and i
1,3-butadiene; which have been r... ·
detected in Louisville air outside 1
. theRubbertown plants at levels·i
that environmental regulators '
would consider unsafe over dee- ,1
ades of exposure. · .. ,
Their research was repqrted •
in two articles published in the
Journal of Occupational and En-
vironmental Medicine in·May.
The research was funded in part
by the chemical industry, a.1-
though the authors said that had
no influence on their findings.
Cause unknown
"We have by no means E!stab-'
lished the cause ()f the brain can-
cers," Rempala said. "This paper
. leaves an open question that
needs to be answered." 1
To discover what may have .
caused the brain cancers, re-
searchers would need to examine,:
medical records of workers who ,
were hired in later decades, and .
to explore whether mixtures of 1
different chemical vapors could ·
be the cause, Rempala said. i
When chemicals mix, 1
·'\. their properties can
change.
The second arti-
cle compared work- •
ers' medical re-
cords at the Louis-
ville plant to those •
from 36 other in- l
dustrial facilities !
that make the same
products.
Tlie- two re-
. searchers, alo.rtg
with two others from
Massachusetts, found
that the Goodrich plant.•·,
accounted for 42 per",:\ .
cent of all brairi cancers · !
amongworkers employ~·.
· ed between 1942 and-
. 1972in the 37 plants. .
In a related matter,
the researchers' articles
pointoutthattheplant's ·
death toll from angiosarcoma·ot ·
the liver continues to climb to
more than twice whatitwas 22 ·
years ago. They attributed 23
deaths to the rare illness; .the
UofL research coordinator who
oversees their database has since
identified one additional death. ·.
"We are unfortunately,the
world leader" inliver-angiosarco~
ma fatalities, said Lark ReyrioldS;
who oversees the database in the
university's Scbool of Me9icine.
· "We expect one a year for the
next seven or eight years," Rey~
nolds said, adding that after .that, .
.there should be no more because. . ___ ~-·~·~-·---·
of controls on the chemical put in-
to place in the 1970s. ·
Her father, a former Goodric:h
· employee, was one of the original
angiosarcoma fatalities. ·
. ,: · . .· , . BYKEITHWILLIAMS,
Greg Rempala,a.Universityof Li:>uisville
assi;,ciate, ·•·..1
professorof math,co-authoredthe brain-canc:er study.
.. ·-·'. . . . ... ·..·-_-
The database .used by the re~.;
searchers was started in 1974, af0·.\
ter three cases of.the i:ar.eangio, :
sarcoma of the liverwere identi-' ·
fled she said · . · ••····.··· ..···.·· ·
The late Dr. Carlo T~bu~- H:
ro, who becqIDe internationally •·•
.known for his research on liver ,
cancer and other liver disease, .
ran the program. It contains re-
cor~s on more than 6,000 people
dating to 1942, when the Good- ,
rich plant opened, Reynolds said. I
One of the liver cancer victims i
was Revis Crecelius of Milltown, !
Ind., who died March 22, 1995, at ·
age 61.
He worked 38 years at the
plant, retiring in 1993, said his
widow, Janet Crecelius.
-- -- thejob offered "wonderfui~J
surance" arid good pay, she said. '
"If you didn't think about the
dr;,ad disease, evetythingwas ro-
sy... ·
She said U of L told her that:
her h~barid, who was part of the;
ongomg study, was the 19th vinyl !
chlorid_eworker at the plant to die [
of the liver cancet. · ·
In the 1950s, when Revis Cre- '
celius went to "70rk at the plant,
· his supervisors had hini clean
·vats.f9r <;herriicals,Janet Creceli-
us said. "He.was just thrilled to
death to have a job. I'm sure no-
body thought about the danger."
Btit she remembers that be-
fore the tougher ·health:.regula-
tions came into effect,.herhusa,
band would come home fuclothes i
....,r.~ekingof chemicals. . '.' ) I -·-----
. . ·Even after the cancer litik be- f
. :cameknown and after co-work- !
·.ers _begandying, her.husband're- i
mamed healthy. . : : ·· I
... "He didn't smoke (and) he l
didn't drink,'-'---·~-
she said. ·
. -·· ·-·----------·
1-
.
THE COURIER'-JOURNA!-
:
"· ·.·.. I
-""Ayearafferheretired, howev:::
er, he started having critical med- •
ical problems. A year later, he [
died, prompting hiswife to write a •
tearfulletter to then-Goodrich:
chairman John Ong expressing;
her disappointment that none of.'
her late husband's former super~;
visors ever contacted him during
hisillness or attended his funeral.
Ong, who is now the U.S. ambas-:
sador to Norway, sent his regrets
but told Crecelius that the com-
pany no longer owned the plant.
Workers wary
'
Starting in the 1980s, Good-
rich began to sell portions of the
plant to other companies: Zeon
.Chemicals LP, Noveon Inc., Po-
. lyOne Corp. and OxyVmylsLP. . ·
The latest news about high
 i~
\)!~iikf ,.,man,vice president of; •i
the United l\<fod and ,:/
. CommerciahWoi:kers'/
. I,.ocal72-I>;whi¢hhas '/ ...
about 250' members 1
working at the four{•··
plants. They recallbe--,j__--···..
1
ing worried about-
people dying of brain.
cancer in the 1970s,'
hesaid. . . ., ··
Zeon plant man-1
ager Bill Simpson, , ______
····....·---· who started at \
Goodrich in 1975; . \ ........
..... .said the fust he heard, . .
of official acknowledg~\ ..
. ment of excessbrain cancers\
---·----·····--...... _______wasinl998,afteranindustry-\_
sponsoredstudy. _ . ... '\
• He said it's important to .. _ __________
.. ..... .
... - ·--· ·-·-·-- !o:;e"t~tr~1)c~v;;k:~~ ":i~~
\
amongthe 16 deaths;and after ;
the liver cancersw~re'discov- \
· . ered, GoC>drich to(i~raggres- 1,
sive steti~J9.e~ensifeJymonitor\... -·-·
emplot~es•·· ltli,i~d control:
chem1.·u·J.l
workersJher f.~-He tosaid\·····----·-···
e ·· , s.u·
w·.appear be
safe from bo 0
ce'ts. ....._ .. _
The''plant llhilgesis the 1
only one of tl1~four originally \
ownedby Goodrichthat stillpar"' i
ticipates in the U of L medical i. ...
surveilla,n~e-prog~~m;~n4J)ie >\
only one ()fll;Rufi'l'iertovyh~area :
chemical0µlan~s involved/Rey- j
nolds said:'.'Many,of the .Rubber- !
town plailtf ft~v:f:st~:rJe4 tliei_r..1
own employee health surveil- L
lan~epro~ms: s~e said. j
Wethink this IS a veryvalua-_;s'\"--·--
ble data,l;l~e,,".S.itnpso-9,..said,.:'Jf\
,
there iss_9metliingthere;y,e wajit, l- .
to~iJt~~i~t:,\v~;;¥J~t£d~;15
\
managenat Noyeontintilfie.took:·/i
anotherjob with the company ··1
earlier this ye1:1r,said he recalls 1

friends asking;;iboutthe dangers

when he wentfo work at Good-
rich in;l97L;s\;f ·"'•',\.t\ ..'t;'•;.,J
"ButI saw,thatthere.wasa::tr&:"t
mendousJuiiountof ciu;~aricl';re.:fi!
it ,w,asa,!;safe'.:
spect frf'iriake:;'~ure
place towqdf/'.-¼<;:q,!,se saigf. ·,,~..
. Non1Ithel~ss; someemployees .-.
continue to be worried,Bowman
said. "We'restillhavingcancers,"
. h~ $aid;,a,ddii::igth!ltqlp.er;wqrk-.
·ers ru-etlie·most coriceniedatiouf'
their health."We were when
th~re
. the exposures were pretty high,
and they tell us it may take 20 or
. 25 years (for some cancers) to
kickin." · ·
 I
CHEMICAL COMPANIES IN RUBBERTOWN:' AREA.
This aerialview showsthe
10 chemicalplantsthatare
in the main Rubberfown
. industrialcomplex.Borden
Chemical,anotherplant in
the area,.isapproximatelya
mile and a halfsouth
along Camp· 1

·' Ground Road;

1.Nov~on 2.PolyOne
4200 Bells Lane ·4200Bells Lane
Employment:125 Employment 45
Annual payroll: $9.2 million Annualpayroll:$2 milllon
Product: Enhanced PVC, Product PVCpellets
Vycarlatex. Found In: TV cables,
Found In: fire-sprinkler
systems,vJnyl
covers . .
flooring,
wallcoverlngs,magazine
.
)~==~:~:~Tu~~;v

3,.zeon.Cheinlcals 4. OxyVinyls
4100 Bells Lane 4014 Bells Lane
Employment 250 , Employment i5
Annual payroll: Annualpayroll: $5.5mill/on
Over$1 a mHJlon Product PVCresin
Praduc;t:Elastomers, Found fii: Auto parts, ·
polymers . medicaldevices,PVCpipe, .
Found in: Automotivehoses, dashboards, siding, .
gaskets,brake pads,airduels windowftames; blood begs
 MONDAY,OCTOBER_27,2003 \
~---·-- .. ··- - --

for

. . PHOTOS·BYMARY
,'\NNGERTH,THE.COUfllER-JOURNAI.:
The Motivarefinery111Norco·,.La.,
is involvedwiththe nearbyShell Chemicalplantin a niultlmillion-dollar
programto investin the community.She_llChemicalofferedhomebuyoutsto someresidents. _
Louisianaplant movedneighbors
.ByJAMES
BRUGGERS bertown industrial area,
jbruggers@courier-journaLcom where yard signs calling.
TheCourier-Journal· for buyouts and for pollu-
tion ·reductions have
NORCO, La. - Only · cropped up on· several
landscaping and walkways . streets, and where the ac-
to nowhere. remain where tivists nope to produce
Margie Richard lived for . · .similar results. .
decades - in the shadows · The goal of the environ-
of the tanks and ·vapor . mentali~ts, who w:ereinvit-
stacks of a chemical plant. ed to Louisvilleby the Rev.
As. she strolls across a Louis Coleman and his Jus-
grassy lot in Norco's Dia- . tice Resource Center, is to
mond neighborhood, she put Rub'bertown~area
stops near a tall pine that peighborhoods on the na-
she planted as a small tree Margie Richard,left, visitedthe yard ofher former tional map of most polluted
in the eignth grade. "This is home In the Diamondneighborhood;With her was · places .• · · ·.. ·
home," she•said. · Wilma Subr_a,a chemistwho helpedthe residents; ·· "Wheripeople think of
But Richard, 61, · arid . air pollution crises, they
several hundred neighbors and its partner, the Motiva · nical skills, political ad- . often think of industrial
have m·oved from the oil refinery in Norco, came ' vice, money and the .savvy · communities·jn Louisiana;
neighborhood, accepting as a result of pressure by to attract media attention. Texas and New Jersey,"
relocation from the Shell Richard and other commu-· That network, bigger said Denny Larson, a San
Chemical-Co. . · nity members, who were and stronger.from its-vie--(-- ·••· ·: . .· ··:c. ·
15t who_
The buyouts, along with supported l:)ya network of. tory in Norco, has now fo- ; F~,ancisc9enV1~o~mer1tal
other concessions·by Shell outside experts with tech- cused on Louisville's-Rub- \ dir,ect~- the ~efmery Re_f?rm
· · · · · \ 9._mpa1~n~~i:l brought citizen
au, mopitonng to-Norco ,and to
·Lquisviile:. "They. should. start
thinking about Louisville as
well.'\ : . : · ·, ·
.·'. Sorne·-Rubbertownai:trearesi~
dents; such as Dave Smith, who ·
liiesJn Riverside Gardenso'adja~ .·
cent to Borden ·Chemical Inc;,
are hoping that the network wins
buyouts for them as it did for res-
. idents in Norco. · ·
. "Fjust ,vant out.of here,"
Smith said, complaining about ·
br;ight lights, noise and pollution
from the plant.
_:Other residents said they
hqped ..buyouts would also bring
higher value for their homes,
which they believe have been de-
pressed by being near the plant.
.; "You .can't give therrf away,"
said Michael Humphrey, who
has lived in the neighborhood for
47.,years. . .·
~-Others lcive their neighbor-
hoods and are content to remain
.....::,but·theywant the companies. · 1

to}urther cut emissions. , .,•

~ "We're· all.family here," said
Carolyn Quinn; referring to her
neighbors on Sunset Avenue in
the Chickasaw neighborhood
northeast of Rubbertown .. ''Your
·'·•· •'"'·
pam.1s '•
OUfpam. "

Clyde Taylor worlied on installing a sewer line to. his house,

wh_ichhe had moved from the Diamond neighborhood to
another Norco neighborhood a few blocks farther froin the
_§hell plant. The buyouts, he said, "ripped the community up."
__
--- .. ---··-·· ... _________._,.,,,.
__...;;:;.;:::;,r-:-:n:-.·• .. ·-.-·-,- .. _,., __
_
 of~oilution also affect air quality '
, Industry-funded relocation in western Louisville, according -
programs occur occasionally. to U.S. Environmental Protec- ·
Last year American Electric tion Agency and Louis'villeMetro
Pqwer said it would buy out all
200 residents of Cheshire, Ohio, cords. · "We'reau
Air Pollution Control District re- .

where one of its larger coal-fired

power plants operates.
:,But while the Diamond neigh-
borhood and Rubbertown area
both involve residents .:....mostly
African Americans .-:- living·
c~ose ~o chemical pl;uits, they _
differ m other ways: · ,.. ·.··.
Iii Most Diamond residents
had already been moved once by 1 · · · ···New Iberia, La., chemist who as-
Shell - in the _195gsto make way
fof the chemical plant - from :
land theirfamilies had farmed as :
sharecroppers. There was no t·- -
similar dislocation of a commu- •.
nity whep the first• Rub):)ertown
pl;mts arrived in an already in-
dustrial area in the early .1940s.
··
Chemicals in the air .family heres
Despite such differences, the
· ·· Diamond arid Rubbertown com-
Your. pain is
munities share a major concern @urpain~"
· - air quality. ·
The air is actually more toxic _CarolynQuinn, referring
· · _,1 ··· ····near the Rubbertown plants than - to her ·neighborsin the
I in Norco, _said Wtlma Subra, a Chickasaw
neighborhoodnorth of.
1· _ __ sisted Diamond residents and is Rubbertown ·
now working with the Justice
Resource Center -on Rubber-
town; - . - -
She bases that assertion on
·- ·- air monitoring done by the EPA
and the University of Louisville
· · for a draft study for the West Jef- · beyond a plant's property -.:.i. -
1

Jll The displaced African
Americans in Norco were initial- -------- ·• Force that has shown excessively
ly):elocated immediately next to ____
the Shell Chemical plant· and
kept isolated· by a .railroad line
and. forest from the white resi 0
dents, giving critics the powerful
weapon of alleging environmen-.
tal racism - the charge that in~
dustries are deliberately placed
near or ate allowed to pollute mi,
nqrity neighborhoods.
· -InLouisville,the composition -
of the neighborhoods near Rub-
bertown has changed to predom-
.inantly .African American over
the years, but at the time the
plants were built, all but. one of
the closest neighborhoods were i
white.· And the two Louisville I
communities that geographically ! ...
most closely resemble Diamond ,/
-,. Riverside Gardens,.· south; of
Borden Chemical, and La.ke l
Di,-eamland,south of American · _..
Synthetic Rubber Co. -:-:-are·
largely white communities,
though some Riverside Gardens
residen~s a~e raising "envirnn- _I
mental Justice" concerns based
on their lower incomes.
!IiiThe Diamond neighbor-
hood was a collection of about _
-22-Lh,omeso~f_()_ttr streets sepa- ·
- ,,.__. •. --~---~·-:- ·
rated from Shell Chemical by a i
cj1a_in-link ~ence and a road, pro- •
v1dmg a smgle focal point for..
contr?versy. Complai~ts about l
chemical plant pollut10n from:
residents in western Louisville.
coine_f~oma much broader area,
extendmg more than two miles
from the Ru~be.i;:own complex
along th~ y~1~ River.
ill Actrv1SLS m Norco had clear
targets for ~heir complaints. It's •
harder to smgle out a culprit in
western ~ouisville. In additio~ t?
11 c~emical plants that partic1-
pate m the Rubbertown Commu-
nity ~dvisory Council, thre~
coal-fired _powerplants, two rail
yards, an mterstate freeway, and
at least nine other major ~ources
fer.son County Community Task
_ _ _ high levels of chemicals and
other compounds. in. Louisville-
area air, especially near Rubber-
town.
__. "In Louisville, I see the high~
est concentrations of chemicals
of all the communities I work in,"
sai~ Subrai_whohasworked with
. residents m several hundred
- · communities.
Many residents of Norco's
Diamond neighborhood believed
plant emissions were causing
cancer or other illnesses - a
charge that Shell and Motiva .
never accepted - but one that is_,
echoed in western Louisville.
Rubbertown plants also reject
any noti?n that their operations
harm neighbors' health.
I And deadly explosions and
- ac_cidentsat both Shell and Moti-
va in Norco raised stress to un-
he~lthy levels among residents
who often feared disaster, Rich-
ard said. Some residents in the
Rubbertown area have said they.
_lrn,y:e_th!:)_~g_Ille
concerns. _ · _
· · Toxic emissions and .fear of
accidental releases of chemicals
have prompted the Justice Re-
source Center's Rubbertown
1i Emergency Action program
ask for both pollution reductions
and voluntary relocation of near-
by residents.
. "Now we've got the facts,"
said Coleman. "It's time to nego-
tiate."
: _ Coleman's proposal for a vol- •
untary relocation plan, however, , _ needed to improve."
rema1?s _sketchy, with no map :
identifymg potential buyout
areas and no estimated price tag.
Subra first presented the idea
to several chemical company of-
fi~ials in 2001 at a meeting held
with Coleman. She said their re-
quest includes all residents who
live close enough to be potential-
ly affected by an accidental re-
lease of vapors that could move
what ~he calls "the vulnerable
zones. ·. ----
. According t? Subra's analy-,1
sis, thatwould mclude hundr:eds:
_ of residents in portions of Lake i
D.reamland; portions of River-! -
side Gardens, including Wtlmcithl
Avenue; portions of Camp'
Ground Road, Bells Lane and Al- I
gonquin Parkway; and all ofBel- \-
q uin Road,. as wellas other l
streets. ·
Buyout questions _
' · Renee Murphy, who lives on
Algonquin Parkway, is among
those wanting to leave the area.
.When companies "say they
are cleaning up, I don't: know
BYJAMiERHODES,SPECIALTO THEC-J
David Brignac,.aShell
engineerwho was assignedto
work with residentsin 2000, 1
said, "Our performance !
I
what they are talking about," she •
said. '
Murphy sued Noveon this
summer following a June acci- '
dent that sent hydrochloric acid
vapors into her neighborhood.
She alleges the plant has de-
prived her family members of
the use of their home.
 Noveon has apologized for
the incident and said it was not
· indicative of how the plant nor-
mally operates.
Rohm and Haas Co. spokes-
man Dan Hicks said officials at
his plant are aware that some ·
residents have expressed a de- .
sire to be moved. None has come i
forward, however,with a specific
request for assistance, he said.
"We've said ... we would talk •
about it if anyone came lip with a ·
plan on why it woufd be neces-
sary and how to do it fairly,"
Hicks said. "If we thought we
were creating a hazard or an un-
healthy situation, we would look
at all our options.
"But philosophically we be-
lieve it's better to invest in reduc-
ing risk inside the fence line."
. Buyouts are difficult for com-
panies, said Peter R Loscocco
A breakthrough
1 those who moved several miles
One of those who listened to
that ston.,:was David Brignac, a
Shell engu~eerwho was assigned
to work with the community in
2000.
. Richard said Brignac was the
fir~t company official to take
ne11?hbors'complamts seriously. '
~mergency events were hap-
pe_nm,?all too often," Brignac
sai~. Our performance needed
to improve."
He said he tried to under: •
s_tand,the neighbors' perspec-
. t1ve: 'They told us, 'We don't
want to hear you. We don'twant
to smell you. We don't want to
see you.'" · . .
In 2000, Shell and Motiva in-
t~o~uced a "good neighbor" ini-
tiative. . ·
Audrey Eugene is one of
away to a ranch-style home.
Eugene, who had lived in
Norco all 64 years of her life and
was very concerned about safety
and health; said; "The stress lev-
el is practically nothing now."
Not all Diamond neighbor-
hood residents left Norco. Clyde · .
Taylor, 41, moved his house to .
another Norco neighborhood.
Th~ buyouts, he said, "ripped
· the community 11p. Not every-
body is going to prosper."
Despite the buyouts, Shell-
and Motiva insist their plants
have not harmed residents.
.. Others in .the community
agreed, noting that new homes .
are being built in Norco along
another Shell fence line.
"Shell has always been good
. 1

Together, they promised to · · neighbors;" said Sal DiGirolamo,

public affairs director for Borde~
Chemical Inc. "It's a slippery
slopefor any corporation. Where
do you draw that perimeter line?
Is it one-half mile? Is it one mile?
So our focus is going to be doing
what we can to work with our
(residential) neighbors."
reduc~ their emissions by 30 per- .
cen_t;improve emergency evac- i
uat10n routes; fund a $350,000
community education program; !
and establish a $1 million trust to .
assist schools, adult day-care
centers and the Norco Christmas
president of the Norco Civic As-
sociation and a retired Shell
Chemical employee. !'Most of us
believe Norco is a good place to :
live and work, and a safe place."
But Shell "did the right thing
for the people," he said ..
.'

That was Shell's perspective parade.

for most of the 1990s, said Rich-
ard, the Louisiana activist.
But it didn't stop the residents
from pressing hard for what they
wanted.
"We knew the plant wasn't
going to go away," so residents '
demanded to be relocated, Rich-
ard said, adding that the struggle
took nearly two decades.
The Diamond residents lost a
lawsuit iri the mid-1990s. Rich-
ard said she read the Bible and
prayed for strength to continue.
Diamond residents also asked
for outside help.
Larson arrived in 1998 to or-·.
ganize a citizen "bucket bri- i
gade .." . a~~r Richard and a delegatio~
There was_ no community ·
project to momtor hazardous air .
pollutants in Norco, such as the .
one begun in Louisville three
years ago. So residents began to
take their own air samples with
equipment held in plastic buck- ,
ets and showed the results to
plant officials and state and fed-
eral regulators.
While Subra had been work-
ing with the Diamond residents :
for several years, she stepped up
her analysis of plant emissions ·
and the frequency of meetings
with residents and Shell repre-
sentatives ..
"She gave us facts," Richard
said of Subra. "We had living
proof, but ... you need facts."
The neighborhood also turn-
ed to the media to help get its
story out.
Shell had been slowly buying
some nearby properties for
years, but in 2000 it also an-
nounced that it would offer vol-
untary relocation to residents of ·
the two streets closest to the
chemjcal plant - a :m,ovethat
backfired on Shell because it ap-
peared .the company was divid-
ing families.
Then the battle really heated
up, Brignac said. It drew support
from Greenpeace and the fiery
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los
Angeles, who portrayed the com-
munity as a prime example of en-
vironmental injustice.
Two years later, in June 2002
yis1tedRoyal Putch Shell offices
m London, the Shell Chemical •
plant and Motiva expanded their ~ horn~ in the new Highland Estates subdivision of Norco u
good neighbor jnitiative to in- has a view of the Shell Chemical plant. '
elude a $5 million community
development fund. Shell Chem-
ical also offered voluntary relo-
cations for all four Diamond
neighborhood streets - a mini-
mum of;$80,000for conventional
homes .Pl~s.mo:11ngexpenses.
Shell Chemical and Motiva
have said they consider the out-
come to be a success.
Residents who didn't want to
move could borrow up to
$25,000 to repair their homes in
a loan _tha~would ~e forgiven if
they still hve there m five years.
By last month, Shell had bought
ab_out200 of 225 lots, Brignac
said.
 PHOTOSBYMARYANNGERTH.THECOURIER-JOURNAL
$hell Chemical and the r.iiotiva oil reiinery began a good-neighbor initiative in 2000 to address Norco residents' concerns. Many
residents believed plant emissions were causing cancer or other illnesses - a charge the manufacturers never accepted.
 fo a
..

out·
InRiv~rsideGardens,some
feelfrappedby h~zards
.. ByJAMESBRUGGER$ the company's 49 plants world~
;,jbruggers@courier-journal_.com wide, Louisville's is its largest.· -- - ~~ic&!i!:titg~_( att~n~ the \ <

TheCourier-Journal "If we.get a complaint, we. , · ·.Haskett acknowledged that

-- - --take it seriously,"said CliffHarr/,, >some cotinci}'meetings·are
:'. Riverside Gardensw~~ sup-' claway,plant manager. _· . . -- ''poorly attended~At the-coun-'
posed to bea paradise, an Ohio ·_ In the past year, plant offi; l--· ; dfinrieetirig inAugust, she was
River resort community ·with cials said they've taken steps to 1 ;jofried only by, Hardawa.y and_
boating, fishing and a beach. reduce noise, direct lights away ?;Rohm, and '.Haas -~poke~man
ButamajorfloodinlQ37,the fronihomes and fix clrainagei
Depression, _ad11mpand the ar- problems that sent water into --· · ,';;:~~;i~i{~lf~ng~hg ~~ek;'an < -

rival of heavy industry changed residents' yards. · · • -imprbrtipti,r meeting arranged

allofthat,- -.. : - •-- .'.Bfothers :withea iepbrter'af.a ·I·
•- Now; this sub_division of IBig·g·· er an_ c___
d_ loser ; ·,i,home on WtlntotnAv.enuedrew •
about a dozen streets with small ·
homes anclmature trees is sand- . The Borden plant, coristruct-
({3.o;peopte,::i<fmfdHvnon{I
}broughtcthe c'onteiits'oftheir l
fm.i1Ji~:f
~~ii,f1¥s
',y:ich e d among the-Borden , ed in 1971, is a relative new~
Chemica_lInc. plant on Camp comer to the area; the original weg~t a -~(irnp!afot/we.:(/:if
-----;'It
Gfound Road, a covered toxic Rubbertown corr1plex to the _-·
·ta!ce if seriously, ''csaidCliff-:;·": I
-:-::pustparticles leave.cl!fsand
waste dump, a junkyard and a north started in the:early 1940s.. · Hardaway;maoagerolthe• --•hoines ciirty·ail(i:~eem to:be. i
power plant. Sounlike many neighbors of ·. Borden:-Chemical ;plantoit'.. --- ·causing skin i'ashes)said Dave i
·fAnd mariy residents want the original Rubbertown plants, __Camp9roundJ~oad;'-· - · Sniith; a,Wtlmoth "A,ventieresi- }
out ·-, •- - · - · ··•· -residents near Borden can say ·· · dent.. Although Borden has de- !
•i'We justfeei like we are liv~ they were-there first And they of Health, irhich.would decide. riied'Jtis a catise of such.prob- L
irig in a danger zon_e,"sai_dTe1;11 have watched yvith ;ilarm ~s
0
· how,to address them;. -__ - • - : leins, Smith blamesthe plant or
Humphrey, who hves on \Yll- Borden ;has·expan!1ed to f1H __· Earlier this month; state en~ emissions .from the,LG&E En-
n?-]t~Avenuenearthe fert~elme • much oflts 9:0°acresite; movmg i virormiental epidemiologistDa- -ergy C::a'ne Run power plant for
off,theBorden property. _ · _--, ever neaxerthe backyards of , vid E. Jones m.et•with,about a the dust : .. -- _
f,:1'5hecomplains about 'fnoise · Wtlmq!h.Av1mue·ho~es; · . - · ·· dozen of the residents and en° , ·He-said he doesn't kriow
a:pdsmells 1' and illnesses that - "It Just kept g~tting bigger couraged them_to,better docu- ;whathas caused a nerve dis()r, I
cannot be explairle~, from skin -- and bigger a!)-dcloser and clo~a me!ltt.heirillnesses and_present der t~at ~es him ~e~res but I
rashes to asthma to.cancer. . er, and we didn't krlow whemt theirfmdmgs to the local health. -fears 1timght be em1ss1onsfrom
fl,}Humphrey'sfattier, l{enneth _w~s going. to stoP,," ..f:Iumpm:er board as a preliminary.step to a --. .the chemical plant, which is dis
N!idiso;n, has documented said/!Youcansee1tandheant.,1 _ potential formal investiGation. , rectly behind his home; •-_....-_
~ors, noises.and other com- Though an ea,rthen. berm· - .Hardaway,_meanwhile,says :-, Doug Bennett, an LG&E
p~r- He and other residents re ~ue resident~' V}eW
!1- of the pla-nt,
gomg door to door, surveying Just beyond it sits a complex of
I
_plaintsfor years on sc~apsofpa- partially bloc~ Wilmoth_Ave-_ . that plant officials have wprked _spokesman, said· it is, "nearly,
closely with the, Riverside Gar~ impossible" for ash from the .
dei:s:Commuriity Coun<::;il, pCl\V~r-planttofallon the com-j
for health problems and asking buildings, machinery. and wluch operate~ a_comnmmty · Inumty, th~ugh he acknowb/
howmanypeoplewouldmoveif wastewater treatment facilities J center and holds nionthly.mEletc · edged that1t could occur when !
the company were to offer to used to produce dozens of res- i ings,t9 a<;Iqtessprol;>le:m,~~ ../ ·-·- ithe plant's pollution. scrubbers :
buy them out. · · ins and adhesives, as well as for- i •-He citeda'n• April 2J; 1994, _--._malfunction. He'said h,edoe~n't ·
Plant officials have said they maldehyde-allproductswide- 1 letteilrorli-:l:iforirier cotiricil •-•-believe the po.wer, planthas
would be.reluctant to entertai_n ly used in socieo/. . . \ -·pr~sj~e~fiij~#kupported the . caHse~any health problems in
such an idea, but some res1- · Thompson said the proxim1-t company's.:mtd:l9Qsexpansion the area ..·
dents said that without compen- ty to· both the landfill; formerly I and applauded-the company's Haskett, a member oft_he i
sation to cover moving expens- on the nation's Superfund list of : attempts to,be ~:good neighbor. ~onm:,.an,g Haas_C<?inmuT1-1t}'. /
es and what they believe are ~ost toxi~ sites, ~nd the ch~m- , . -.But some t¢,sid~nts say. the A~y1sorysCounc1l.smce 1992;,
oroperty values depressed by 1cal plant 1swomsome. Noting icouri.cif,currently led by :H_elen->slfar~sthe view of industry thatl
the plant's proximity, leaving is that he_rhu~band's sister, who : Haskett; does'.ribtrepresent the---_-- neither.Borden nor other .Rub~~:
not an option, was raised m the same home, : views :Ofmostresidents. •_ bertowriplarits are making any- ·
"It's not like lhave a choice," died in 1997 of liver cancer at ·_ __ ''They.don't listen to·you," orieilL- ·•· ·- :
said Amanda Thompson, who the age of 22, she said, "I don't thomps(?ri5aid; adding that Cancer is "everywI?,_!lre,"_§p~;
lives in a home formerly occu- even letmykidoutoftheyard."
pied by her husband's parents. But company officials said
"I'm 23 years old with bad cred- suggestions of buyouts raise
it. IHhad a choice, we'd move, difficult issues._ · · _
I'm living week to week to sup- "Where do you draw the ·
p01t my kids." line?" asked_feter E µ}scocco, ,
_ Borden officials said they public affairs·directorfor the·
don't believe their plant is company. "We cari't address
harming anyone's health, and their property values. We don't
they are trying to be good neigh- have enough information."
bors. LouisvilleMetr.o Health De.-
The plant, with 237 employ-· partmerlt spokesman Dave
ees and a $20 million payroll, is Langdon said anyone with spe-
own e d by an international cific concerns about their
chemical manufacturer with health and the environment
SU billion in annual sales. Of should bring them to the Board
--- · ---··-·
,_ . ·

·-- · --
. . . .. .
Te~riHumphreyhas seerithe BordenChemicalplantexpandcl,oserto f1~r
homein RiversideGarderis;~W:e
·,_.,_,;t:----~:. ..'~'
PHOTOSBYDURELL
WiltnothAven_t,1e ....
HALt:JFi.,,tHECbURIER.JOURNALI

justfeel like we areHvingin'adanged:one.'~. ••,J: '.· , ', . · i-- ________

_
__...__:,•. ::._, ·-·..___'.,, ~.7''••:._,.· __ :·.__ :. --··: /' ._ .· ·:·-_.i__ --~--- __,.._
r·..
__ ;;.;.,:,.
__

that'sheisn't'
iii ct,,adalrii
.'.'scared''oHhe plants and
doesn't want to leave:, • . ·... ..·
, She praised. the chemical
. companies for helping students_
fu.ari'S
··01·· v()iebring~
getscholarships and assisting
in,other ways: .

Activist'~ ~dv,pe
:.
''>J'Sonie'l~iverside· Gardens ·
.residents'.have'.turned to the
Rev..LouisColenian, whoseJus-.
:nce:Resoutce'Center has
ner all sid s a ·ree:}
',
:been
··· '.;_;i:Goleip,a:n;y1ho:
,,····a;lrirEl1iimGGERS
jbruggirs@courier:journal.com
· the Courier-Journal·
,,,. ~pastor·Pf
r·
was raised in the,--------
Smoketown area of Louisville, serves
Congregational 1·-- - Firs't
1

ciil1iµgJ9remission reductforis I \ M'~thqdistChurchiri w~st'erri·Louis- i

· arnubbertown plants for years. -./.·.-- · v:iHeandis aresident of eastern Jeff er--' .
. ,,coleman'sprioririterestwas -. ~::Staging p{6t,ests and using ,other sba,county,h_ai,forigpicketedaiid'pi-o-
·Jai:gelythe African-American, btillp.orpta:ctic_s;the Rev. Louis Cole te~ed overcivil rights. IIi 1991,he add-
0

neighborhoods immediately , nJ~JJ,has J)ecQtj¢Louisville's loudest. ~;ieriviro_hinental justice to his agen~

easfand north ofRubbertown. ; environm:eritalist' .'. , ·.: .• -·:··...-
He said he wasn't aware that the :~F()r 13 ye~r,s; Colen1a:n has been l
largely white Riverside G~r- • caHirigforcommi:mityattentiontopol 0 T - n3~ority arid low0 income comm:uni-f-
dens existed until lat~ August ... l@on in westetriLouisville andJeffer- -1·
._But he's been meeting with s9.pCounty,;espe,dallyin theRubber;
· residents during the past sever- town area. . . .. . ··
al weeks, including a rally on ;$'.~Hesucce~sful,lyfought for the dis~ l
Sept. 27 attended by about 25 UJ~ntlingofthe forniet Ashland Oil re- i
neighbors, some of whom dan- fmery on Southwestern Parkway n,ear
gled signs from their necks with Gli'ickasawJ:>at1':;helped persuade
slogans such as "Welcome to rJ:eJ:rci
Parks to rid a lake in Chickasaw
~-, amfd;,a growin_g ri?,_tional
aM:arene~sof the pollution burden on
t~.§. · - · . -· " .:. · .· · · \
· ~Colemari;s father, also named i - -
· I.;gµis, 84;worked at one of the R1'.b-I
b:,~own plai:it,sfor 40 years'and mam- 1
ta'.msa West End home. The younger, :
Coleman, who says he is "g_uidedby '1--- ...
the word of God," has been working i
with out-of-state environmental jus 0 \

Death Valley" and "We pay,tax-
es, too."
Coleman pledged support
from the Justice Resource Cen-
ter but told the residents they
need to organize and take the
lead in pressing for change. He
.told them to seek meetings with
the mayor, air pollution offi-
cials, health officials and Bor-
den officials. . .
,' ' "You;vegotta get upset," he I
said. "You've gotta get angry in
the right kind of way." · e~.
Approximately.,a month lat-
er, almost 50 people'attended an
anti-Borden meeting. .·.
. Not everyone thinks Cole-
man's attention is needed, Has-
kett said. "Wefeel we are doing
a good job of representing our-
selves."
l{)!fkofdioxin-tainted fish; kept pub-
lic;pressure on the Metropolitan Sew-
ei"District until it reduced odci.rsat its
main treatment plant; and call ea for ,I
ai'rmoiiitOring iri neighborhoods hear
the Rubbertown industrial area. -
. While some criticize Coleman, 59,
for-his metl;lods, he was .buoyed this
year by an air tqxics study overseen by
theWestJefferson County Com.muni-
ty Ta.skForce that suggests there was
merit to Coleman's year·s of com- • " , Colenian said. he's b.e~n sti-iniiM:
·plaints about unhealthy pollution lev- ,
.. . . .. . :
"Now we have the facts," Coleman
said: · · unteers paying for the costofair pollu-
/Among them: Concentrations of .
toxic air pollutants have been meas-
u:r,~da.tlevels_hundreds of times high- ·
ei'than those ·considered safe by offi-
ci_alsat the:,LouisvilleMetro Air Poliu- .
tiq;:tControl District, state Natural Re<
s:o,urces and E'ri.vironm:entaF
Protection Cabinet and the U.S. Env1-
ro11!_llentalProt~ction Agency.
·· - --- - '·· - --- · - · -1
tice advocates for several years, but 1i
during the past year several key na-
tionally known activisti, have started I
to play a more visible role. · :
. "We weren't getting answers," Co-!
leman said, explaining why he sought i
the help of outside experts in sorting
through environmental regulations·
and the complicated science ofpollu-
. , tion and health. _ , · . '. · ·
to._'gether a Iow-bµd__
g·et c.a_
mpaigil for
_his new Rubbertown Emergency Ac-
tion program.thaUncludes some vol-
tion testing oufof their own pockets.
·Coleman said he's applying for grants ;
to expand. the environmental work of:
Rubbertown Emergency Action ..
· While most acknowledge that Co I 0

· lemariisapoladzii:J.gfigure,somearea •
residents see Coleman as someone
who helps give a voice to those witpout .
one. This includes Kenneth Madison, ,
who lives in Riverside Gardens adja~
cent to the Borden Chemical Inc. plant
and who asked Colemanfor help with
his neigh~orhood's Cfmplaints: "I be- '
lieve he will help us,' said Madison.
Officials in companies and govern-
ment agencies s·aythey are sometimes '
frustrated by Coleman, but they give j
him their. attention.•. . . .. . ; She said that Loui
Bud Schardein, executive. director; ·news media.gives G~
of the;Metropolifai:J. Sewer J?istrkt, ; way too much attent(
said he was never able to convmceCo- I that his organizatio ·
lerrian that strong odors from theMor-. i frontational style
ris Forinan wastewater treatment : . hard.to achieve p.rogr,
plant IJ;lay hav~ been smelly but they : . ····"He brings issues.
were never toxic: .·.. ·· · . . · · · I forefront,and that's Qr
Schardein also said that tens of mil- · .. ·•the kindest thing E~~
. lfons.ofdollarsthat MSD has spent to 'Gadson.sa:id. ·:' / '
.·improve performanceand reduce AtleasttwfrLoui .
odors at the trea~ment plant would :vifonriientalists sa.Ia:f
haye)eell spent without c.oleman's \ . wish Coleman woulcl::w
agitation. . . . . • cooperatively with the}
· Dan .Hicks, spokesman for the ! . force. · ' · , . : ' ': ;.:
Rohm and Haas Co. pla:nt on Camp i .. Lawyer and state Si
· Ground Road, said that!'Rubbertown ; .Club chapter chair-..y·
has had a mostly positive relationship ! Betsy Bennett said she:
with Rev.'Coleman the. last three to·! Colematj,,would."stop
four years .. , but he still doesn'ttrust ; down Arnita Gadson
the information we give him," i ·task forcetbecauseifi
· Arnita Gadson, executive director ! important work . ;
of theWestJ efferson task force and an . !.1
BtifBerinett also: ·
environmental justice.advocate, said Coleman with playing'
she doesn't understand why Coleman .. role in getting the. p
• cites the air monitoring data her orga- focus onimportant
nization developed; which va[idated and said his voice nee
many residents' concerns; and t~en
criticizes the task force for dealmg ,
heard. At the same tim.
nett said Coleman's la
with industry. . technical expertise c(
his cre.dibility. t
·.·.
Carolyn Embry, w,h
lows environmental i
··.for the American Ltinit
'dation·of Kentucky an
'been an air pollution dn1
district board memoer, !l
Justice Resource Center·wpµ
. likely be more effective'iti't . .
long run if it worked with tll,e
taskforce: • ,··.. . ,,}?'(
· But lawyer Tom FitzGerald;
the director of the KentuckyR~\
·.sources Council; said, "Thete?s
a need for a mixture ofii , "' '·
'
preaches/and added that . '
-i
· ·cause toxic air pol!µtant ··
main high, "none oflls h
gotten thejobdone:~c;;
Coleman is un° \.,·
· deterred by a ·,
criticism. ('.
He said 'fi,
doesn't-mi .
. upsetting wiij
• he calls "th"
power struc~
ture ... as long
as the people
in pain ge
some r
lief."
 A nationalnetworkof environmentalists goingby :·
the name FencelineActionhas been-offeringhelp to "
the Rev.LouisColeman'sJusticeResourceCenter in '""
its effortto dealwithpollutionin westernLouisville.:
Three expertsfrom that grouphavevisitedLouis-
villeseveraltimesto meetwith Coleman;residents, · ·J!:l (;, •

industriesand publicofficials.

. ~cientistttjes toJevelplaying
' . .. . .
field]~
. ...
. ' ·~ ' . .. . . ,. . . .. : .,, . . ...
·.Wilma Subra, 60,'ofNewlhe- ; · roninental conditions for the U.S~;,
· ria, La., is a chemist who, has of- Environmental Protl!ction Agency:f
.·fered technical assistance to sever~ •at Love Canal iii upstate New York;:(
·· ·al hundred low-income and minor- · where a chemical dump found mi- ·
ity communities since founding der a resi_dential community_.,
TheSubra Co. in 1981. · helped prompt Congress to pass•z-;
She was recognized in 1999 by · the Comprehensive EnvironmenY;, ·
the MacArthur Foundation, win- ·•tal Response, Compensation and'":·,
iiing a $370,000 "genius award." LiabilityAct, which created the Su~::.:;
She said she put the money into her perfund program, in 1980. • . · '.;'
•business_ and u_sesit to coy.ef:~:8;j,; ., .·· Subra said sh~ bec~me frustrat~· ''
pen~es, mcludmg wor~.?m!tW~;;/e~_.be~ause her JOb did ~ot allow,,
Justice Resource Center m r:ows ··.·cherto tell Love Canal residents all'
0

···ville. . .t:/it~i~ifJ:_t':}lJ.e kri~w about t~e threa~s they_:

Low-mcome and mmonty~om 0 faced :- a frustration that eventu 0 ·
··munities. are often ill-equipped to . ally prompted to start her consult- ,.
express their needs and wishes to . · ing firm. Subra.is vice chairman of••~
industries and goverrimerit offi~ · theEPA'sNationalAdvisoryCoun<'
.cials, Subrasaid. They don'tunder- Cil on Environment~ Policy and,.:.;
ttand the science and regulations, Technology,and .isa member of the'".'.· ·
'.and have not mastered the techni- agency's National EnviroI1D1ental
cal language essential to negotiat- Justice Advisory Council. . . <::
ingforair monitoring, pollution re- "She's gottechnical credibility,~;~~
·ductions or home buyouts ..· · acknowledged David Brignac, ,ex"''-
'. The industries, she said, "have ternalaffairsmanagerfortheShell 0 •
.allthe resources on their side," Chemical Co. plant in Norco; La.;•rt
while "communities have no where Subra helped residents se-
moneyto hire experts." cure air monitoring and home'··•
She tries to offset that. buyouts. Brignac, howev-
She earned bachelor's and er, criticized her for tak;; -·
master's degrees in iI,1g some "cheap;•:•
chemistry and mi- . shots," such as sug-·;:
. crobiologyfrom the · gesting that his•"
U n iv er s it y of. plant intentionally··,
Southwestern emits more pollu::,:;;
Louisiana in 1965 tion at night ···
and 1966. From Subra said
1967 to 1981 she . she prefers a:·.:
worked as a bio- · background<:
statistician, chem- role, out of the>
ist and manager at . media spotlight.··.~
the Gulf South Re- The only way~;
search Institute, a any community';
private research cen- · can bring about .
ter in Louisiana. : · pollution reduc-: :
It was in that ca- tions is if resi,=>·
pacity that Subra be- dents demand it;,~
came involved in . she said. '.-
monitoring envi-
 Tne ms
and outs of health poiicy~:J.
Mark MaicheH, 46, is a doc-
torwho worked as assistant health
director inKansas City;Mo., from
··· ·1985to 1991,and was public health
director in Hartford, Conn., from
1991to 1995. · Rev. Louis Coleman since the,::../
While in Kansas City,he led an
efforttoestablishasmokingbanin
public places.
But as a public health official,
he said the politics that dictated
the need to protect business inter-
ests sometimes interfered with his
··ability to achieve improved public
___
_ health policies. That prompted .
him to leave his job and go into
consulting. He for!31edMitchell
Health Consultants m 1995and es-·
.tablished the Connecticut Coali-
tion. for Environmental_Justice in
)998. .. . Mitchell earned a,;;
· "I found I was able to
get more good policy
from the outside/' he ·
said. From that van~
tage point, he said,:
he has been able to
help persuade the
. Hartfo,;d City Cpun- -
cil to declare an
asthma (:)mergency · ·
and adopt a plan for·
reducing preva-
lence ofthe illness;
to block medical
waste incineration
in the city; and to
prevent an old.
power plant in
·. . ~.~
New Havenfrom reopening. "'".
In St. Louis,he helped residents ;:;
form a group that fought medical':c;:·
waste incineration. ·· v;, ·· · ····· · ··
He's been wqrking with the :
mid-1990s, first on the issue of ,,c,[
dioxin in fish in a Chickasaw Park:~~/·
lake; The tainted fish were re-,i.~i
moved ip.May 1996,but state offi-'.::;;:;j
cials later-restocked the lake fop.-
catch-and-release fishing. : .
Now, he's helping Coleman · .
with air quality issues._ . ·· ·
"I've never seen such high lev"':)
els of toxic gases so far from the, :i
polluting facilities," he said. "I've 1.. _____ ....... . ....................... _ .. ·-------·-- .... .
also never been to a place with so~di
m,anydifferent odors that could be· •·i _.._...___ _.. _................
.
smelled from so far away." ;;;1
bachelor's degree in:;, 1
·economics and b_iol:·:::~ . ___
ogy and a med1car•:.,
degree from the.,.'_ ......
University ofMis~·:."J
souri a_tKansas:~1---·-
City. ::1
·· · He earned a,,,.( ..
· master's in pub~,~:j
. lie health from:::!. .........
Joh!ls Hop~~ns-,.;~
Un1vers1t,yf,,~:L
where he. w:'a;s;,n
trainediin~~riv1~~,:-i.
.~~,i;;~it~en
aitfnOhitors advocate
• -':,...,,__,___ .,c:--,.--·.
·- }·',:
~. Denny Larson, 51,is an envi~ )?rotectionAgency; -- - . ·
111
'· tonmentalactivistbasedintheSan . In California, h~ and others
""· · Francisco Bay area. · · · used "bucket brigade" samples to
• Before linking up with the Tex- identify sources of pollution at sev-
" asabased Refinery Reform Cam- eralrefineries, leading to abate-
paign in 2001, he w'orke_d17years ment orders and fines. And he
in the San Francisco area for Com-- brought the air sampling tech-
;., munitiesforaBetterEnvironment,. n_iquesto Norco, La., where one
focusinghiswatchdogactivitieson neighborhood's residents were
several refineries· and chemical eventually offered buyouts. ·
· phmts located close to residential "From the·very first time we
: ·neighborhoods. used it out of the box, it was sue-
His work with the advocacy cessful," he said. .
group also involved establishing Louisvilleis unusual, he said, in 1
• thenation'sfirstnetworkofpeople that the community had already i
t who live in neighborhoods imme- established a network of neighbor- ---·I
;i, diately adjacent to oil refineries. hood air monitoring stations. '
.ic And he helped pioneer citizen air · But the citizen "bucket bri- .
monitoring, taking technol- gade" monitoring can keep,, '
• ogy developed by attor- , pressure on industry:::
• ney Ed Masry, known \and regulators to do:·'
for winning the eel- ore to reduce pollu-•.•:,'.
ebrated pollution ·on, he said. •·"':
case depicted in "Companies are,/ 0 •
' the movie "Erin going to realize they::
Brockovich," and are going to have to :'.
s pre a ding it - startbuyingoutpeo- .·,1
around the na- ple," he said. "This•·,·
tion and world. disnute won't ·end
Groups in more uritil then." ·
than 20 cities He earned a:
are taking bachelor's degree ,..
samples using in communica- ·
methods ap- tions from the
proved by the UniversityofTex~ ·
Environmental as in 1974.
 .· SUNDAY,DECEMBER~1,2003;

• •
maynnpoe
tough r airregulations
.Otherstates
·establish..
requirements
·.exceeding
those of EPA
ByJAMESBRUGGERS
.jbruggers@courier-journal.com
TheCourier-Journal

he LouisvilleMetroAir

T ·
PollutionControlDis•
trict is considered a •
model in its efforts to
monitor toxic chemicals but
admitsit hasn't used the regu-
latoiymuscleavailableto con-
trolthem. ·
Thatnow maychan~e.
Followingair monitoring
. that revealed18 cb.emicals and
compoundsin Louisville-area
air at levelsstate and localreg-
ulators consider unsafe - at
·1evels hundredsoftimeshigher
in somelocationsthan deemed
safe-district officialssaythey
are prepared to launch an air
toxicscontrolprogram. ·
"Now we have clear and
. strongevidence(that)thereis a·
needfor more action... to get
these chemical levelsdown,"
said Art Williams,director of
. themetroair district."It'slikely
we will needto put newlawsin
place." ·
The district, which has
oversightof air qualityin Jef-
fersonCounty,is ableto do that
because it is exempt from a
Kentuckylaw that prohibits
state agenciesfrom imposing
any regulations that exceed
federal ones, includingthose·
from the U.S. Environmental
ProtectionAgency. .
At least 18states have pro-
gramsto controlhazardousair
pollutants that exceed the
• EP~s minimumrequirements. BYMICHAEi.-
CLEVENGER,
THECOlJRIER.JOURNAL
LG&EEnergy'sMillCreekpowerplant Is one of morethan 40 majorindustrialsourcesof
air pollutionin JeffersonCountythat are regulatedby the LouisvilleMetroAir Pollution
ControlDistrict.The districtis studyinghowother communitiesbattlepollution.
 ~s saidthedistrict is lookfugatwhat other·:
· states·andlocalgovernmentshavedcip.e. ··
···... At least onelocal ·environm:emal leadersays
it'saoout time. ·. ·· · ·. •· · ·
"On the air toxics isrue, I thinkwewerejust ·
asleep;" said Gordon Gamer, of Louisville,a .
member of the state's EnvironmentalQuality ,
Commissiori;an independentwatchd~ group."I :
think the goalhas been to do .themimmumthat .
EPAwciuld accept,"saidGainei;who~tty.re- '
tiredas directorof the Metropo• Sewer.Dis-
-- trict and serveson three EPAadvisoryboards. •
. Districtofficials;workingwithth~WestJeffer- '
son CountyComiriunity Task Force,whichover-
saw the air-monitoringstudy,•and the·EPAhave
promised to identifythe sourcesof the 18~llu-
-____ _ _ tants anddevelopstrategiesforreducingthe!I'
··-·- lev-
eli;; : . .. . . . - . . ' .. ·,'-·
..· Thosestrategiesrangefrompubliceducation
campaignsto new regulationsthat ajuJdgo be-
yond the federalminimumrequiremep.ts to law-.. i'
suits Willianissaid · ·..··· · ' > ·
""F6r every chemical, every
considered,"he said.
straiegy
.. ,· ·_.
to movequickly;/
· 0:,;Thereis l)ressttre
. ·./~e JU$ticeResource Center's Rubbertown
.. _ _ _ _ EmergencyAction Program,working with a
willbe •
.• ·
. ·. , ·, ·.. ·
.Ascllool buswaitedoutsl~eManual
, . •· ·
tllgtis«:tiool
· ·. · .. , . . B'fPATMCDONOGH,.lHECOURIER-JOURNAL
to pickup students.Jeffersc;m..
.·
·\:
I
. ·· • , ·
groupofnationalenvironmentaladvisers,has.be-
···.gµIiweeklyprotestsof Louisville chemicalplants
CountyPublic.Sch,C?~ls
has;apolicyllmltingidling by b~sesto reduceem.lsSlo,ns. r
•and is threateninglegalactiorulhe ~urce cen-
. ····ter~~C:~'g'le°i:isoftwo~lawsuits
.Whatyou maybe smelling hlti Rubbertownplants I'
_ ___---· -:,-Onefiledon behalfofaJusticeResoutceCenter
Residentsnoticing1heseorolher
odors·.canreport them
tothe.LouisvilleMetroAlr.Polluiion
Control[,
•- Districtat5746000. . . ~
supportei;and the other filedon behalfof high-
way constructionworlrers-against the Noveon [:·-
chemicalplantin Rubbertownfollowingan acci- . ·
dental release of acid vaporsthere ~lier this ~

. ~"The impatiencecomes from not being }ig. ' --Jl

tened toearlier,"saidthe Rev.FredWithers,a vol- -ii
unteerwiththe emergencyactionprogramwho
ha$lived,off and on since1985,betweena rail ...... 11:

yard where Rubbeitown chemicalsare some- '. j

timestempo~stored andthe chemicalplants. I!
. .·.•·SomeLouisvilleMetroCouncilmembersalso· Synthetic
..·Amerk:ari Rubber,Rohmand Haas, .' I
DuPont Dow Bastomers ··• · · · ' . . . /'l
are growingimpatientwith the air district.They
PiANTS;.u.s.
, ' . /I
. want it to move more swiftly toward a solution SOURCE:RUBBERTOWNCriEMICAL EPA . . -· ..
---·-··--··------ .
_.-~
.______......
THE•COURIER-JOUR~r'
,_._..;,., .. ,...-:-,. ,.':"· , ..
that wouldtightenregulationof the.Rubbertowil
. industries_and wve weste';llL?ws.ville residents
cleaner arr,while preseMngJOhs;~bbertown
chemicalplants collectivelyemploy-about2,300
people,with average8!1fiual,
1!11 pa;y
of $50,00,0;, .
· . "Weneed mdustry,"said councilmember;Ma-
.ry Woolndge, whoseDistrict3 is eastof the Rtd).:
. bertowil industrialarea."Weneedthosejobs.But
we can't just coritinuetolet peopledumpon one
Daftof the city." ·· ·
 . Setting standards
Therearenonationalairstandardsforhazard-
ous pollutants,a categocy of i88 chemil;alsand ·
compoundssuchas those
discovered in Jefferson
County. Inste~d; 1990 ·
Clean·Air Act amend-·
ments callfor plantsthat
· are the largest sources·of ·
the chemicals to install .
":maximum .available
. troltechnologies."·
con--
. ·Butwith the EPArun-
- ning fQuryears behfudon
proposingcontroltechnol-•
ogies for hazardous,air
· pollutants, .some states
and metro.areashave re-
quiredmo~ thanthe fed-
eral government's de-
mandsfor use of the best
technologyavailable, .. ·..·
· "The EPA tries-to do
the right tliirigthat walks
.
across:the. nation,'.':said
Jeff Myers;a toxicologist·
in WJSconsin,one of the
statesthat demandsmore .. - . BYKEmlWli.UiWS,.JHECOURIER-JOURNAL
·thanthe EPA.But states The Rev;FredWtthers,a volunteer,withthe JusticeResource
oftenfind they needaddi.,.• Center's RLibbertown Emergency,ActfonProgram, voiced
···tii>nal:rules
to fill in regu- . frustrationthatresidents~complaln.~~f:l.relongignored.·
latoryg_a{)S,hesaid..:,.
: . · .... · '.~ .. - . ". ·:/:,:;::Y>,.:.:~ ..' ..•. "
. loi.ristanaandNorthCarolina,forinstmite, . tiotiastobebamiftil.tqtheh¢althandwelfare
of(--
JlaveimposedactuallimitsonJhelevelsofcfoienshumaris, ariin:ialfi)Ji,d~~ ·. · • >>. . ./'
. of.toxicchemicalsthatcanbenieasuredintlieau: . "Ifs.agi:eat~on," Natter.said..$utit's.'.'
.- Califomia~tluflargest_POlluterstoas-:; rievt:rquite~iinpleinentedtheway.wewouicI·::
. sesstheheaithriskstheypose,disclose.them:to ~ittobe. · •-::?ci},,. ,. . , .· .. ,
fueirneighborsand-reducethe pollutantsto safe :.::Qne 'problen:i:wMt:he aeanAir.Ac;t;acoord-:(
. _ ___levels. . · · · . · ,, ·· · · ·· · · · , - •··,· mgto.l~illQements;who retirediri 2001after29 :i ·
UnlikeKentucky,Wisconsinhasmana,ged t.o · yearswiththe - Natura.l:Resources and Envis l
.... work around its own legislative prohiniti<in ronmentalProtectioncabinet, is that existingair ]
against imposingregulationsthat iµ-e.stronger ·pollutionpermits do not generallytake into ac- :
thanthe federalgovernment'sby narrowlydefin. ·.countone company'sproximityto anothez:· .
··ingthefederalregulations,andworkingtocontroI · Thismeansthat emissionsfrom-aconcentrat-'
toxic chemicalsor facilitiesnot coveredby EPA ed grouping.of-industrial facilities,such as Rub-
rules. bertown,may be allowedto create a cumulatiVe
John Lyons,chiefof Kentucky'sDivisionfor problem,he said,. ·•. -.: _,. . . ·
Air Quality,agreed that the $rte bas no formal In addition,.while the metro.air district re- .
programfor_cfealing with toxicair_emissions: quiresJeffers~>n Co~cy operatorsto~givem:!11-ost :
-·, · .ButhesaidKentuckydCJ!!Sreqwre "screenmgs careand considerationto the potennalharmfulef- •
and-riskasses.sments". of industrialsources:ona feet"oftheir toxicemis,sions,, the rule has rarel:yii ·
case-by-case basis.And the Air QtialityDivision ever been invo~ .- · · ··· · . : . •
. bas studied such.industrialareas as CalvertCity · .Williamssaid the .~on has.the putentlai •
. and Asbland,and scrutinized new power plant. to help the ilistrict.lower thi;;levelsof toxicchem~'
proposals, such as the Thoroughbred plant icalsin the aiI;but it's y.,ordedtoogenerallyto be ,
plannedforMuhlenbergCounty,Lyonssaid . • qfwat ~ce, r,hedistrict,he said,willlikely:
·· Manystates.and rommunitiesare just begin-. needmo~_specff.ic;i;iew. ~o~: :.: . . ·
nirlgtoestablishprogramsfocontroltoxicchem~ i,r,.. RU..'_. a 9'' '•'" ..... ,..L . · ''
icals,-Lyons said.."It'sthe newfrontiez:" , . ·.• .. ~ans~ffll8 S ~811,;H. -. ·· .. .
chief of the EP& regiorial
Kenl\11tchell.. Air ' .In lookingforriew\v.aystodo .business,Wu0 :
ToxicsAss€$Slllentand ImplementationSection. Iiamsmight want to·exaillineCalifornia,which·
in Atlanta;_sai~~ IpuisvilleMetroAir Pollution Mitchellsaid :sets ~e &old~dard~ for pro- ;
ControlDistrict JSm some wa~ ahead of the gramscontrollingtoxicair ellllSSlons.. ... .. ..:
curve. . · • Since1983,Californiahas beenevaluatingthe :
in Louisvilleare recognizingthis prob- risks that toxic:chelllicajs pose .andadopting '
.'!Y'oti
Iemandtrying to address it sooner.thantheaean measuresto reducethem. That state's measures"
Air Actrequires,"he said :· .·· . are often more stringent't:haI\ the EPA'.s, which :
· Butthe air districtmayhaveto go ~nd the take intQ.accountthe costto indtis'tty. i
minimumrequirements of the Oeari.·AirAct to ·· , .."Wereallyc,!Qn'tcon$ider~wh~it,µ)mesto,:
protectpublich~ said ~ Barnett,director toxics,"said.rercy~ spolresnianforthe..Ca!Fi
of researchat.the Universityof Louisville'~ Ken- fomia Air .Resources Board, ~el). it comes.to:.
tuckyInstitutefor the Environmentand Sustain-' ·.toxics,we aretaJkjngabouthuman lives." :::
: able Developmentand aJomier EPAand ~e . And for the past 15years,Californiahas fl:\-:
naturalresourcescabinetofficial.. · quiredind~ pollutersof.some600 su,bsi;anc-;,,
"Is healthbeingprotected?·The bottomlineis; . es to reportand~ pollutionreleasesand to-;·
not as much aswe like.Westill have.amentillity notifyneighborsof significantrisks.Thosepollu-•
that the atmosphereis a vast oceanand it can ab- .ters posing the greate,st.risks,since 1992,have'
sorb allof these chemicals."· · . · beenrequiredto reducetliemto acceptablelevels.;
. ·BothKentuckyand the metroair districthave Mitchellsaid Calif9rniadoes·a goodjob.of·
catch-allregulationsthey coulduse to do moreto scrutinizing"hotspots~-:- neighborhoodswhere·,
controlhazardous.airpollutants;said LlzNatter, there are an unusuallyhigh Ji.umberof reported '
ari'environmental attomeywhorepresentsthe Si- healthconcerns. . . . .
erra Club'sKentuckychapter. . ·· In San Diego,for example;Californiaofficials
Kentuckyprohibitsownersor opetatornoffa- interviewed 1,500 residents.in a square-mile
cilitiesfrom emitting"potentiallyhazardousmat- neighborhood about their medical problems.
!~r_ortoxicsubroincesinsuchquantitiesordura- They found that many were making matters
 worseby.lifestylech~icessuchas smoking;~
fireplacesand using chemicalsolventsor paints.
on their ca.rs. . · .· . . , . Californiais not alone in having~ons ·
air monitorsaround ,
Buttheyalso establishe!d that exceedthe federalminimum.. . . . ·; :··
commercialauto ~hopsand metal-plafulgbusk.I. In-Mi~ for~le, ~n~wmajorp~ ·
. _ nesses. ... . .... . - .· · • .. . andanywithsubstantialmodificationsmust1i:f~
In one case,a ~ ~m~plating b~ess : ~ all the chemicalsthey emitintothe a.ir~.n'9t ··
wasfoundto be releasmga significantquantity of i. . Justthose on a federalor statelist ofregulatedpol-
uncontrolledemissionstoward a .children'splay i .lutants.Michigantoxicologistsclosely:checkthe
area. .·.·.. . . :______
.. .. facilitiesto assure:they don't pose unacceptable.
"Thecombinationof these things leadto very , additionalhealth risks;: :. ·, : ; . , -"~:;::
highratesof diseases,"Ma~·saic1 "Butthe.big- 1 _ · Louisianahas adoptedits air.standardsfo(p.11'
gestactorwasthe small(plating).shopthat didn't , meroushazardous air,pollutants-:!"--100 in all'-' ,,
employmorE:than 20 people,and it was hurting 1-_____.··.Louisiana environmentalregµlators~llire
the community. 1
' .·· ;., · •·. ·- •. .i the Iai:gestsources ofthosepollutantsto usecom-
San DiegoCotin,tyforcedthe company'sclo- .! .. putermodeling.to ensurethat corrcentratiorurbe-.
sure last year. i ..yondplant fence lines do not exceedlegallimits.
ContraCostaCountyin the SanFranciscoBay _.·Thestate alsouses.airmonitorsasacheckonthe
• area hasan ordinancethat requires larger indus- computermodeling.· : ..· , . · .
trialfacilitiesto do puplic"rootcause"analysesof L_______·· While environmentalists say.the Louisiana
any spillsor explosiQP.S and !O switchto "inher-/ standru;ds.are not ~gen~ enou_gh! the limits
entlysafersystelllS"9foperationswhentbeycaij,., ___ _ :... __ would,if they were m placem Louisville; prompt
. . · Th~:<:Q@.ly~·-~ companiesthat use: regulatoryactionon at least twochemicalsfound
· -haianious·materialsto obtain~ land-~e penriit i · in the air:),3-;butadieneand acryloriitrile.. . -
..fortheirconstructfon projects;whichentailsP.ub- . •Butadien~,!IDO~ to ':ll,usecancerin hurria.:r~, ·
,·liehearings . .:J\ndthe!;Owity~ one oil re- and acryioru. .. e; y,rhi~ JS_
nil suspected.ofcausm. g
finery: with a}:iistm:yoftroubieto install 24-houi ~cer, are_ found m ellllSSloru: from ~ chem-
fence-lineair.monitoringwithresults to be post- -- ·····. 1ca.lplants m the Rubbertownmdµstrialarea;bu-
ed on the In.J~..et eythe'!lll.dof this month. · ·. . tadieneis also foundfu IJ?,Otor vehicleexhaust:
•··· California'sSouthCoast.Air Qualify · ---- . ,Those three <:omparues- _Rohmand Haas,
ment District;,vmich mcliidesLos Ange~ Zeon and Am~nca:n,Synthetic ~ubber·Co._.-
. year approveda 2020phase-outof the toxicsol- pledgedreduC1;lons ID ~y, foll~g a Couner: ,
vent perchloroethylene, commonlyusE!d by dry Joumal analysJS.of~e arr mo.nitonng. datalllla \
cleaners , .. , '· _.,· . ·.. > . - subsequentpublicationoftheWestJeffersontask..
Toe cllemicalis amongttie 18pollutantsiden- . fo~ study'sdraft finclin~.Williamssaidthe mej:- l
tifiedas ah.ealththreat inthe Louisville study,ToeJ- · ro arrboard w~uldsoon,mcorporatethosevolun-
metro,districthas a program of inspectingdry., . tary measures ;IP~O a formalboard prde~ . .:
cleaners to.ensure ther meet federal.~., ~ ... know ~e ;itllOt,J.Iltsar~, too~~~d
ments for.record keeping, leak detection and DanHicks,spokesmanfotRolimartdHails. ~ow
properdisposalofwaste; and it alsoinspects·gas·
stationsfor releasesof to~<JJumes~ also con.:
trib~o SI!log.also. ct· .ti:fi.....ed.
· . OIJllllhas. .1 ~. .
a to¥c a.Ifcontammant -:--!1move !hat has
di l
ese
exha. ust.
. as
district;needstplook.~
mcludingsmallerbusmessesand~otprvebicles.
"Everybodyneeds to reduce." . . ..· . -' . "'
all·•
let'stum our attentionto identifyingall the'sourc-
es and·doing.somethingabout it.':'.11 i' , · ,; :' :::..
..... . He.saidthe

promptedit t!>lookfor.ennss10n.cutsm every-• · .. ·.. · , .· , , .•·••·. ,. , -

tbing fi:o.m ~ats to ti:uckstosdlooltiuses. \ . NorthCarofu?a has establisl1edaccepta}J~~lev-
• ·- - ...... ---- --- - · · elsfor105chemicalsorcompoun~ · , ·'•.·
· · The California air board earliet this year'7 Pollutionsorircesne¢citostay6el.~~'iev-
adopteda measuretlwxfu'nri:s ::ii.:hod bus idling at ' e1s,·said LciriChPnv,:headofNoc.I,_,' earo.•:-.\•s·.,;; ..
ornevr schools.Busd.J'!'ie:ts Nillhave to tum their \ -·J rui wl.il .....
miginesoffup·onanivin;za.tschooland am't rei;~ · · ·.toJdcsprogram,and ilieyuse computermodeling
- " 1 to. showwhetller they are staymg imdetthe
0

ta::ti:hemu.nt:iL30 seem,dsbeforedep&.rting.,\_- \ · · · thresholds. · ·· ··

A study funded by the air board found.tJIBt . ,, . .'.
childreninoidefschoolhLiGE'.Smnybreathe sigi:'Jf- .· Her.agencyalso is proposingt()ughei:rero.Ila-
icantlymoreair pollutionth:mthosein newerbµs-- tion of hydrogensulfideemissionsthat woufdaf-
.. es, but pollutioninside e--wmrievverbuses '-3/US feethog farms and pulpandpaperJllills,aswellas
higherthan·outside:fue,vehidet,: · , ,cc <: other businesses: · · ' · · · f' : ', . ,. -
.. "Generally;children are lllGfi: v,.tlnerabl~ than Her
. advice_toLouisvilleresi~eii~reg$.- and
...~dult& ~oa.ir,po}\utants beca1!5t;\fr1ey ~v~ liigl)er tors:."Don'tpomtfingers.Just·sttdown:andt1yto
inhalationrates,murower anw!).ys,ai;idl~)na- ..solve_the,pro"blen1, or eveiybodyis goingto ~.·.·.·:·
ture;fumn.1nesystems;~ttiea.irppa,i:d·~ct. ;}; freakingout · · ·· · ..• . , · · . ::·::~.
,The ~e~~o~ CountyPubli<tS~oolswstem
alreadylimitsiqling.tono morethan fivellllllutes
at schools,saidDrePinkston,the schQ6l-system's
direct~~:~;t J:~:i1~~ has soiigtit
but so been unsuccessful·atobtainingfederal
far
funds to help.,retire older buses,and retrofittail-
pipeswithpollutiontraps.Buthe said the Califor-
nia study'sconclusionshave been disputed;and
he notedthat the.EPAis alsomandatingcleaner
dieselfuelsand enginesin the comingyears;, ...
. Williamspraisedthe JeffersonCountypublic
sch®l system,whichoperatesnearly1,000buses,
for its efforts. . . ·
But he said he hasquestionsabout whether
the five-minute-idling policyis being enforcedor
maybe skirted;he saidhe has seen schoolbu,ses
parkedandidlingfor longerperiodsa fewblocks
froma~ool beforeor aftertheirruns, whiledriv-
ers socialize. .··· ·
 . . . B'(MICHAEI.
CLEVENGER,
lliE COURIER-JOURNAi:
SomeJeffersonCountyhomesare locatednear Rubbertownchemicalplantsand a rallyardwheretoxicche111l~a_l_~
a.~eso_'!1_1_1l!~s
~tared•.. ; ·

-----
.. ··-··-··--•- .. ----- --- ----~-- -·--··
I . . l
.
After·EPA
. . criticism
' .·
•·.··•·· . . . . . . ·.. . .
· Noticesof • : /Total fines paid /
violation.sent.to : / to air pollution·.· 1
industries. V control ~istrict
issued ·
air:·district
l$:
1993through Oct. 2003 . : 1993through Oct ?_003
250
_.....::2S2-/ ..,,_in
thousands ·""'7344-
solfieheftyfines · ·
: of dollars ·
!. 500 ---~----11
: 400--------:==.-
ByJAMES
BRUGGERS fl A.focuson repeatoffend-
jbruggers@courier-journal.com ers. · ·· · 100
TheCourier-Journal The newspaper's analysis·
of databaserecordsfroin'l993
Fiveyears1;1go,the U.S.En- through October of this year. ,. 5o·
vironmentalProtectionAgen- found that the pollution·con-.:· 0 0
cycriticizedlocalair pollution . trol district conducts stweral 199;l '95 '97 '99 2001 '03 ; 1993 ·•95 '97 '99 2001 '03
regulators for issuing fines hundred investigations.:~y¢ar.-----------'-----'---------
that were too small. on a wide range of concerns, SOlJRCE:AIR POLLUTIO~ CONTROL DISTRICT THE COURIER'.J,OURNAI
The Louisville Metro Air from open·burning :tcdllegal•·
PollutionControl District re- releasesof toxic chemiGalsby· trices work.on larger, more .visions of their air pollution
sponded by securing several manufacturingplants to
of the largest penalties in its gal asbestosremoval. · twoyears,and saidthe agency
me-
complicatedcases in the past permitslast year.
·Many appear to be minor
50-yearhistory. "When I got here in late has a backlogof between 500 violations, but Williamssaid
A Courier-Journal review 1996,I came with the general and 1,000pending enforce-· some couldbe substantial.All
ofthe metroair district'sinter- sensethat the levelof enforce- ment actions. • . are beinginvestigated,and he
nal database, obtained under .mentand size of the fineswas "I fullyexpect in 2004 and said he couldnot commenton
the Kentucky open records belowwhat it needed to be," 2005wewillreturntothemore ongoinginvestigations.
law, as well as hundreds of said Art Wtlliams,the district recentpicture of enforcement Noveon,which operates a
pagesof state and federaldoc- director. . activities and violations is- chemicalplant in Rubbertowri'
um en tS",also found other Since the peak in 2001, sued,"he said. · in westernLouisville,was one
changesinenforcement: there was a drop in noticesof The newspaper also re- ofthe companiesthat reported ;
IllA200percentincreasein violationto 56 in 2002and 26 viewedthe annualcompliance violations.The companyearli- •
notices of violation issued, thrpugh Octoberof this year, lettersof 40 of the area's larg- er this year reported a
from75 in 1996to 232in 2001. the newspaperfound. est industrialpollutionsourc-
· II Morefrequenton-sitein- Williamsand his staff attri- es and foundthat 16identified
. spectionsof majorfacilities. buted the decline to the dis- violationsof at leastsome pro,

"pinhole" leak identified in April
2002 in one piece of equipment
called a reactor, and cited a
51-pound release of v!flyl chlorid~,
a chemical that can causecancerm
-humans. ! ,
· · Since then, the companyhas re-·
·· placed all its reactors at a costof$4
. million, said plant manager Jeff
Ca.mpbelL - . . . . ··.·.·. .
•· "We tQOkthat very seriously,"
•·Campbell), said, adding that he
"·doesn'tknow·whether the pollu~
0:tion control district will assess
"fine. .: ,, · ·
;:He11vy
;penalties·..·. __
. • Whilethe district has collected
• several mlijor -fines, records shQW
,-that_the mf=(lianfine assessed Yio.;'
i)ators is;~h9ut $400 -; roughly the·•.
...same as 1t;has been since _f993... .
;·· ·•.·A.inong•the major fines -was
, $432·;100, collected m a settlement -,
'·with Rohm and'Haas;·a Rubber~. /
··toWncompany, after e9mpany offi~ !
-cials_det¢~ed they haq:n,nscal~, I
· cµjated hQWmuch pollution they t
produced. \';Fheerror allowed tolu~..i
. eil'e emis$ibns at more than IQ l
_times.their permitted level be,~
.. tween 1996:and 2000. . .·. !. • - '.' 1
· '..· Districti:bfficiais said it was
.the . 1
· largest fin~:they have ever
-.e<L
collect~
;s;1 · · - • .·,•::. : 1
\ Force, which oversaw a Louisville- ;
_c: •. -:_
. ·.·They .ali;ocollecteda $180~100I
penalty from Borden Chemical
· lric.,'in tpe Rubbertown ar~a,. 1
-·)Vhich•tufPed.its~lf in twoyeaf$,•!
•ago after·it had IDIScalculatedph~. I
nol emissions. ... ·....• · -• · .· ·. :
· ,· -·."We ch~e.not to dratit ciu~ and··!
· go fo~~th corrective actio;"
said Borden plant manager Cliff ..
Hardaway;· . · . .·
. It was· air pollution inspectors
who uncovered violations at Akzo !
Nobel Coatings Inc., district offi-
cials said. That company was cited I
for record-keeping and monitoring .
lapses, and agreed· last year to a 1
$222,700 settlement, including a •
$132,045 fine paid to the district
and the remainder toward environ-
mental improves ;
rnents, records ·
show.- Eva Addi- ,
son a metro air ·1
district engineer- ··
in1:5supervisor;
said the majority
of the district's
fines stem from
_what insp_ectors
uncover.
Phelps · The fines as- ·
·sessed by the district aren't the .
only ones being levied on ·area
companies; · .
For instance, the EPA acted fol- ,
lowing a, 1997 release of the dan- '
gerous chemical hydrogen fluoride
from DuPont's Louisville plant in-
the Rubb~rtown area, reaching a•;
$1.1 million settlement announced
this summer.
Despite sucb examples, activ~
-.ists believe the fines are,too low... •·
. . "It's· no.t:really bothering these
"It'sa tangle. ...
, companiesor.theywouldhavelow.-
ered the pollution levels we are :
1 . Compliancewith
·
seeing at the monitors," said the i
Rev. Louis Coleman, who heads the i ·
. .t?.1tviron]J1,~7:tal
. ..
•. Justice Resource Center advocacy i t,egiflqtjqnsre,qu,ite§
- . group and h~ been pushing for j 1
., pollution cutssince the.early 1990s. i
. : But Beverly Spagg, who heads \
-•-_.
'i;, ·:I
pref!Yste.~P:.
·" the EP.A:s regional. enforceme1;1t :
· . branch;in: Atlanta, said she 1s i
]~qming;ctilffik,,: 1
.
""!eased with the metro air district's· 1..
a MIiier,~~l~w•...·
· : -Jonathan
,,._.· er fines,. ed them·_sub~tan-"•.\
call. .
· and said the local agency IS on · managerDt.iPont
. environmental : at.
> the right track. ' ·· · ·..· · •
Major industrial facilities ·are' I.
and;(board-·
··• DowElastomers ·;
ofIlleWestJefferson.
.'member
:• inspected several:.times .a year:- , TasJt
Force':
' : County:Com·muriliy ·.·
.. eight times at Kosmos Cement last ·
. year; 15 at American Synthetic ;
~_.. • --~ :;!• ... · · ._. 1.,_;:
·.-.~, .•..-~;·,
.... ~r::
..-~-
\:.,,;l.::,
Rubber Co.· since 2001, 11 at the
. Ford Motor Co. Kentucky Truck
i Plant since.200land 14 at .LG&E
Energy's Mill Creek powe~ i:;lant.
But inspectors have their na..,ds
full, as tbe rules and permits often
<1rtd.t.fficu.lteven for envirorunen-
,:;J r.,,1;\ess1onalsto understand. 1
,..u s a ,angle," said Jonathan I
1Vliller,envrronmental manager at· 1
i DuPont Dow Elastofuers, and a ,
board member of the West Jeffer- :
son County Community Task 1.
area air monitorin~ study that '
identified 18 chemicals at un-
i healthful levels over Jong periods
of expos~
"Compliance with environmen<
tal regulations requ_ires a pretty:
steep Iea,ming CU1YetMiller said. · "I
Rep eaf•lijffjn;clers:
····-·.··:··,·. • .·1i . THEC-J i
SYPAMSPALDING,
· In re~e~t:'ye~;thifjnetro._air.i.
district has paid attention to repeat ,I
offen~ers:by 'intreasirig'. fi!les, \.
i someti.n!es .wt:thsuc;:cess,·Wtlliams ··i
said. ·• ·' · · ·•'-:·, · ·;, : ·. · _,··•I
• The n_ewspaper•~- iari:a.Iysis of_.J_
district records ct>hfiimedlhat :':'\ .
· For example,· atthe\ Swift-~d OJ
Co. meat processing plant 1n·:\1
Butchertown, which has produced•. ·
numerous odor com1>lamts over j
the years, fines have ranged frcl~:1!
$375 to $14;425 since 1998; ·. ·: · !:
The Cfl,~panyAA5:\i~~·to~nd\i
much. more; howey~r, ;cm-~nv:!fon~.1
. mental u.npti>v~nients/;·,:.,;:.·..·;,···.·
...•_.·Prompted by'the•district, the
company has spent $6 million to·re-
duce odors, including a new waste-
water treatment 'facility, an en-
closed cooker that doesn't verino
the,outdoors and dust controls; •· ·
"We feel like "'we've'·addresseda·
lot of the issues," said CQmpany
spokesman Jim HerlibY.. .
 ·:-.Hesaid the air district l:ias"set·
·.pretty c!ear p~eters. ~ ' .· ··•..' .
· .· ·· Wilhams said, "I thmk :we've
made some progress." . ·
, He and Terri Phelps, the dis- Top 1.5businessesranked by.total fines
. trict's enforcem.entsu~rvisotI $,9; . . . 1993 through October 2003 · · · .:
.believethey ate making progress ; Rank 81.isiness• Total fines
· at other industrial facilities that •
·have produced numerous neigh-.:
.·borhoodcomplaints. · - •··.·.·: : .. ·2 ..
· For instance; LG&Eagreed'in a',
March 21, 2001,board otderto ad~•:
dress an ongoing.problemof parti,:-: i
· cle pollution ·fromjts,MµI Creek·
plant near ValleyYtllagem south-·;
west Jefferson County, according I
toWtlliams.and Phelps.• , , . , ·th' i
- For its part, LG&E this mon ; .
· announced that it was finishing .a !
$25 millionproject toreduce emis- i ...
sions.at Mill Creek. . ·
. ''We are undertal.tingthis pro- •..
ject because we take our respon- ·
sibilityas a good neighbor very se- I ..
, iiousJy," said Mike Kirkland, gen-.;
_... e:ai n:at1agerof the Mill Creek fa- i :
. cility,.m a wnu:enstatement: . ;
Louisvilleneeds to balance its
new concerns with a long view,
Wtlliainssaid, noting that 50 years
ago.air-qualityofficials monitored .
pollution with buckets atop utility :
poles that collectedsoot fromcoal-
burning furnaces. . , · ·
"Weused to measure pollution
by the in~hesand half inches,"Wil-
liams said. "Nowwe're concerned
about parts per billion;" ·

·~:·"½.... ••. ~ ..•,·,, ·-··

.· · · . . · · ·. .. · . · .. . BYMICHAEL
CLEVENGER,
THECOURIER.JOURNAL::
LG&E
. Energy's
. .
Cane Run power plant hai1reported 1,327 "lipsetsn -malfunctions,.emergencies,
. . , start-ups or shutdowns-since
'
1996, · ·
 'ates,e-
ER inVeSH -essennssions
Ii-om'upsets'atindlistrialfa . 1f''~
------- -·-·---- ·-· -- --- ------ -·--- - -- --·--·-· ____··--· ------
/_ - --~-

ByJA.MES
BRUGGERS The existingregulationrequirescom- ,
jbruggers@courier:joumal.com panies to report any incident in.which; Itisusedtoniakesyrith~~and \
TheCourier-Journal emissions,due to malfunctionsor to un- : the metro air district has:identified·the :
foreseen shutdownsor emergencies,are · · .AmericanSyntheticl«tbber·flare stackas \
• On Jtily 26, the American Synthetic or maybein excessof standards. • the main sourceof the chemicaUnfotiis- 1
RubberCo.plantin westernLouisvillewas ·· The LG&EEnergy Cane Ruri power ' IIlllt~<1
·.ville'sa.ii,althoughit is also'.f<>!:l#d.
shutting down for maintenance wllep ii. planttops a list ofupset emitterscompiled torvehicleexhaust ·· · , : , ': • , ,
mal.fuilction occurred . -· . C · by the nt)wspaper.The coal-firedplant in · · ._..,Malfurictionsat ~ere,nt jndustlihl I
~ Thechemical1,3-butadiene,which can western JeffersonCmµrtyreported 1,327 plantscanproduce differenttyp~'of ex-",;
causecancer in humans, was released ... upsets since 1996;artd.461' duringthe first cessemissions;··/ · · . · . _, '. \
froi+t·.aflarestack that normallybums off , 10months of 2002- a pace·thatyear of . <.An LG&Espokesman,DougBenn~· '
··· 98peicentofit. • . : . ·, . ·1 ·· one anda half per day. ·· . , ·-. .· · ·said'that ~e CariEl ~ plantlias}>een \
.... ,. ptatday,,read.ings of tha~,che~cal . Othetsin the top 10include: Kosmos . over-reportingupsetsjusttoJ:>eonthesafe\
: spiJ¥to unsafeI~ at an arr~monitor- · Cement;GE ConsumerProducts,Ameri-: · ·· ·/ side;_andthatthe bulk ofthem~ pro- 11..
. ~sj:ationina~deritialfrontyardahalf- canSyntheticRub~LG&E's.MillCreek I. d ced · · · f · l
po· w·er"
..·P1---·t,theT-..:;...:ne"M'AA: .....,Cent· 'er! ... -· -• ·::iutiofi
'· u in noexcessetp1SS1onso parti
. · . eaway._... , .__ ... . .
..
l<W UJW.:,Vlll t:WIA.I sril.oke:
froi:nbnmincr coal epo- ·
• -·.tWhile LouisvilleMetro Air Pollution steamp~ Rohmand HaasCo.,the Ford 1
. . Inc:,own;~the .Kosmos
CEMEX_· ·

ControlDistrictofficialsdetex:minewheth- MototCo.'s Louisville Assembly Plant,· ,·

~"--_
, S~.'
M,;uu lill1ll ..,.. er·•Distri"
...
po' .. -;-:...:.. ct'.s·•M.. Fior.;
. ms·._·. · plant in southwest Jefferson Coµnty!
ei'thebutadienereleaseviolatedair-qual-. 0 • would not comment on the upsets, sa1d
. ity regulations, theU.S. Environmental ' mati'Wastewafor Treatment'Plannuid · · Da:_:wn.Weiner,apublicrelations_ represen- -1--
_ rrc,~onA'geil · hasproinIB.edan~7 The Chemical
Borderi air district database'which was . .tµ:iveof the Houston-basedcompany. .
· _~~~ ~:~i~od~n'~1:i,~
mation of the r&e malfunctionsplaf m
con~~to toxicair locallyand nation- obtamoo·fuiderthe Kenfucky()pen Re-!
ally. ,',:: . . . . . . . .. . . ' . cords law;showed Kosmoshad between I · Monica Burkhead, a RiversideGardens
. Ir{addition, the .EPArecently has ·67 arid112incidentsper year; GEhad be-'! neighborhoodresident who lives north-
pledgedfull enwomn.ental:insped:ions at , tween 15and 118;and AmericanSynthetic: · eastof the pla:nt,\vhichshe said oct:asion-
11Rubbertowri-areachemical plants. . · ' Rubbei:' between21and IOt Therewere at i ally sends a caustic ash floating down
· /;Withmodem:pollutlcin'controls, rou least 18such eventsattributedto the rub- ! fro th ky.
~he~~~ lived near Kosmosand ex-
· cangetyourselfinto a positio~wherejust bercompariy'sflarestack,whichburnsoff'.
afew. .flareevents. can easilyswamp the beeri {~entlhe<i·:~
the: perienced similarfalloutfrom that plant,
. penriittcif!~~ions," said Bruce Buck-
heit, ~b>fthe
Divisio ,who.was
EP.A'.sAir Enforcement.
not familiarwith the
che::~~ri~h~
leading
___~=~~xic
chemical ofconcem iiiiirisk
air ~n~Dlio~~tsin~~ \.
as-: . ~:ilike "¾\:~~~~~J:r
usedto ,

~ ,js,~
t o co
'!~~C0

.. '"Ill.0c~'on
Qth.ffi~d~edd .•
e 1t:1ease,an
airdistrict,officliils'said theyarestillinves-
. tigating;,"(,'S':i \;/:\::, • .•. . ' .. maffundions,
Tep 10 plantsreporUng emergencies,
::A:Coun_·~rJ.oumal·analysis
·.air districtdatabase
of a metro··
fotincf72 companies
stari..UpS andshutdOWDS (1996 throughOct 2002), «~,{:,· . .·
· reporting 4~1~.n:ialfunctions,emergen~· Company 1 · i 1998 1!199I 2000· •2002 TOTALS
cies, start-ups or shutdowns - often· LG&EErief . .
calleq upsets.- from 1996through Octo-: CaneRLJn'
ber of~ year, the Jllostrecent figures ;
available.'·•· . . 1

:Twelveco!llpanies reportedmorethan;·
Wup~ts iI;i. c_me or moreyears,with fo'!l"f
plants·reportingm:orethan 100upsetsmi
one or moreyears. · .·-· ·· :
· "Mostof them improperlyreported,"[
said EvaAddison,an engineeringsuper-1
visorfor the metro district,because"there•
were no excessemissions." · '
However,that was not reflected.inthe
district's database, and metro·air district·
Director Art Williams and his staff
couldn'tsay how much excessemissions
were releasedfrQmthe 4,193reportedup-
sets.
Williams said be ·is·considering a
change in the district'sregulationsto bet-
ter ensure that companies only identify SOURCE:
AJAPOLLUTION
CONTROL
DISTRICT THECOURIER-JOURNAL
those events.thatproduceincreasedemis-
sions. ·
 KimFreenian,-aGE
spokeswoman,
had thesameviewas LG&E:"Webelieve:
excessemissionsoccurredonfewifanyof 1
those occasions"at itsAppliancePark op-,
erationsin centralJeffersonCounty.· '
Significance di$pl.l'ted
Whilesomecompaniesand air district
officialsdownplayedthe reported mal-
functions,others- includingone former
Rubbertowncheniicalplantofficial-said
the publicand regulatorsshouldpay at-
tention-to them because they can be a
measureof howwellan industrialfacility
and its pollutioncontrolsare operating.
CarlHilton,the retiredenvrronmental
·manageratthe DuPontcompanyplanton •
Camp GroundRoad,.saidany plant ~ j - - .....
repeatedlyrei::ortsUJ?Sets shou.Idtake a I
close look at its ~wpment and proce-:
du.res. ·· • · .... ' ·.i
"Alarm~ shQtildstartto gooff,"iJii.;
. ~ti said/'If.!i:planthasmore jhlµl 2,j (a 1
year), somethingis wrongwith:itspollu-i
tion·abatementsystem" . <·
. Residentswho live near the Kosmos
and I:.G&Ep~is Ill ~uthwesUefferson:·... •The.regiorialJPAo:ffidiJ.s'saidthey.i
Co1llltyshoulcl4Emllllld.an~oriof
. the .reported nialfun:ci:iolis;said Erk·
Schaeffer,the formerhead of the EPA'.s
civil enforcementbranch. . . .. • Environmentalists
Tohavemore,.thanIOOiriayear~ ab-
surd," he said.··. · · : .. ,.· ..
· · \Villiamssaidthat pmnytimes,releai- ' · · · lo.ok
..es of air pollutionduring upsetsare con- !
si.deredlegaland !Ire11otsubj~ to fines
unlessregulatorscan identifyn~ence
or a pattel'11 of problemswitha particular
piece ofequipment, -Willian:issaid.
~-------··· .··.._..,
..c~--- '
Thathas not occiuTed oftenlocally,he
said,thoughtheEPAannouncedthissum-
mer that it had reacheda $1.1millionset-
tlement witb_Pul'(}nt'sLouisvilleplant
over theJl,~iio,~d 1997 release £?fa
dangero~che_ hydrogenfluonde.
Thatwas,9n,¢:9f ;Sixupsetsreportedat
the plarit~: ..e1996-2002 timefi:ame:
Williamssai.a'
EPA wants
he's not surehow the
emissionsfrommalfunctions
regulated."The EPAneedsto givestron- ·
gei; clearerguiili\nce, "Williamssaid.
Schaeffer,who recentlyfoundedthe
EnvironmentalIntegrityProject,a group
that scrutinizedhis formeragency;~
"This is a bigloopholeinthe Clean.Air Act
The emissionscan be substantialfrom :
th~ events." .. _
EPA's dual focus ·
EPAofficialssay they are movingon ·
two fronts,regionallyand nationally.
. RegionalEPAofficialsfrom Atlanta
have saidtheyintendto closelyreviewthe •
metro air district'srecordsof comnanies'
self-repmtedupsets,whilenationalEPA ,
.. enforcement()fficialssaidthey areabout ·
to look at chemicalindustryplant upsets.·
acrossthe UnitedStates. · ·
Total malfunctions, · .
a s1m1· . ' 1 Syntheticofficialssaidsent"blacksmoke"
,.•·.;,·!
owns.a..
. Louisllille)pla.n.ts
-..
1996 ttirpug~ Oct.:2002 ,.··
• ~~~~supposedtode1"~1...·:,c:.> -,.:.'
1996 '97 '98 '99 2000 '01
' SOURCE; AIRPOI.LlJTION~~i. DISIBIQ"r
· - wantto seeif.theycancorrelateany.ofthe ;
Rubbertown· Iant~withincreases in:·I
· toxicair lev~ atneighborhoodmonitors.:
and neighborhood
activistsin Augustrequestedthat the EPA
1·
conduct such an analysis:"Weneed to· 1
af the high hits and seewhichfacil~ . 180tons of.pollutionto the air each,year .
itiesunderwhat conclitions.are generating./
• thesehits," saidWtlmaS.ubra,aLouisiana/'.
· chemist who is helping,the Rev. Louis ;
· Coleman'sJusticeResource Center in its :
• campaign to get Rubberfuwn~area plants';
· to reduceemissions.Subraalsoservesortl
· twonationalEPA a<Msocy boards.-::- ·.
TheJuly26butadienereleaseatAn:ier•
ican SyntheticRubbermay.be one such
case, said RussBarnett, director ofre-
~~::~%1:r;tik~~:~i
and SustainableDevelopment.':?'> : .
• '.'..~~rogram has. ll~ri:C.o~~g arr
..mqrutonng·data.for.several·years and
stepped,J;IP its ·. . lirig last ~er be- .
fore, dunng an~er the rilbber·plant's
maintenanceshutdown. · ronmentalmana~r, said.closerEPA~~
On the dayof the rnalfunclion, thebu-
tadienelevelwasmeasuredat15:55parts
per billionat a monitornear theintersec-
tiori of Camp Ground Road.arid:Ralph
i Avenue.· ,. .··· . ·
. That concentration ~ significantly
l higherthanwhatEPAofficialswouldcon-
~der safefor lifetime_ exposµre, and much·
higherthan whatwouldbe consideredle-
gal jn Louisiana,oneof the fewstateswith
air standardsfor hazardouspollutants;..
It alsowasmorethan fivetimeshigher
than average butadiene readings at the
monitor from ~ovember 200fto July
2002 Barnettsaid. · . . · ·.
.. Williams said the company reported
excessbutadieneemissionsofup to 100 .
poundsduringthe malfunction;and that
might have.been enough to cause the
nearbymonitorto showthe increase.But
he said he do.e.sn'tknow yet whether it
wouldbe deemeda violationbecausehis
engineering staff has yet to determine
whether the release exceeded the com-
pany's limit; and whether it could have
~ prevented.
CQmpany -officlals
acknowledged the
malfunction~an incidentthat American
out the stack- but declinedto com:inent.
OJ?,~~~ofthepei:ldingairdis-
trict mvestigation. . . · . .:-'.·,,. .;: :
"Wecan say that when anunusualor
unanticipated(upset)occurs,we;address :
the issueas quicklyas ~Ie.tciretum to.
a normal situation,"spok~!lli James •
Crowley said in a written statement.
"Ratherthanbeing.concernedaboutth~ ;
... events,the pi.Jbliccan.restasswed
that
.these eventsindicate.that the systems-in
placetoprotectthem areworking:precise:,
~,~uons Pllf'.S~~::\
Nationally,EPAenforcement,official
ha:ve:ma~einvestigatingim,ufunqtions a
pnoritysmce1998. • • ... " . . , •
~ haveconvincedourselvesthere is
a problem,andwe haveriegotiaj:edanum-
ber i;ifsettlementswith major.(oil)refui- .
ers,"Buckheitsaid .. ·_.,c,. ·•,';·,;,',..:,'. ..
."Whathappens (IS)they ~.payipg a .·
wholelotofmoreattention,~amlthe num-
ber of eventsthat rel~. exniss.ioos goe~f·_
waydown,hesaid ; . : '';//;,;: .
. In all,theEPAhas 42refinenesnation~.
wideunderta.Jcing correctiveiiction. . •• ·
At one refineryin Toledo,-thf3 EPAde-
terminedthat malfunctions:wete':adding
from1993through1995.~'re staitingto
moveintochemicalplants,"Buckheitsaid..
"We'vegotsoineconcerns."'~ i;, ; '; '
SomeRubbertownplant.officials .said .
that ~efineries~perate diffe,:eµt1y .fro~
cherrucalplants aridthat the agencywill ;
not likelyfindsimilarproblems:related to .
malfunctionsand otheq1pset; '<::. i
·Jonathan Miller;etzyll'Oniriental spe-:
cialistat.DuPontDow. Elastomers;.•said
chemicalmanufacturingplants terid_to
. placea greatervalue orithe p~tjs tllat .
movethroughtheir ipes and tanksbe:: :
ciruseanywaste is o~n somethingthey •
couldsell,he siiid:Hepointedout that his I
plant reportoo,<>nly.one malfunctionlast J
year and twom 200L.: . ,.·. •·,. · · · . '
But Hilton,the..fonner DuP01,1t envi~ ·
tiny of chemicalplaµ~ ~Jl goodjdea.·.·'.
' "Thechemical,planis have'itcit:l:>eeri at
~~!~ f!i!e~.~~,~~;:~ii
have any choicebut to lookinto some of
this. Some ofthese companiesshould
clemfuptheiract." . ·.·.· •- · ·;,: .
- ""behindon emission-control
rules
. . . . . . -.- .

· BYPATMCDONOGH,
THECOUfllER.JOURNAL
· Tim Duncan,a volunteerwith the Justice ResourceCenter's RubbertownEmergencyActionProgram,held up a sign last monthoutsidethe BordenChemicalplant. Resltlents_oflhe
Rivers.IdeGardensneighborhoodwere ,l)rotesllngagainstair emissionsthey believeto be a healthth"".'t, The companydenies its emissionsare harmlut,,: ·: . . . ·. •
[
!
\
. _, -···--•-- - -•,;,:7".--: ·--··---·

;; "Youcan see the kiiid of ineny-go- -/.~fi~~~fthe EPA io'

1 Agercysays task. ', round we're ori here," said Tirri Dun-
'; can, a volunteer with the Justice Re-,
yearsfodeyefop rules
r¢qiiiring "maximum.
~ diff~c;µ.lttCongress'' ; source Center's Rubbertown Emera ·
; gency Action Progra~. "How many,
available'.1.,p9Hution
control technoi-ogy for
:deif&llile
unrealistic people have spent their childhoods
·•choking from asthma while the·EPAis
industriE:sthat emit siz-
able qi{~ijtities ofthe
' '

diddling around." chemicals. arid com-

.·.·· ByJAMES·BRUGGERS
. ·• ,-At issue is how the federal govern- pounds on
its hazard-
· .jbrtiggers@courier-journaf.com . ment regulates a categozy of air pollu- ous air :polluta.ritslist. .
·· .The Courier-Journal · tion that comprises 188chemicals and They are designed
· compounds deemed especially t<;>xic. to make theworst-per-
; f~It's been nearly 14 years since Con- The EPA actions establish the minis forming facilities in a
. ; gfe~s called on the U.S. Environmen- mum requirements for all states. · givenindustry improve
;. tajProtection Agericyto come up with Unlike other pollutants, such as their emission controls
: regulations to reduce hazardoµs air smog-causing ground-level ozone, to levels near those at
· pollutants to acceptable levels. there are no national air standards for the top of the industry
• Today the agency is almost four haza_rdous pollutants - no levels It's a get-the-jalo-
••years past its 2000 deadline, and by above which communities could face pies-off-the-road strat-
·. most estimates it will likely take at penalties and businesses could face egy, sa:id Jane Wil-
: !eastanother eightyears to finish the tougher regulations. · liams, who follows the
'JOb. ' . ', ' ·• .· .· In the 1970sand 1980s,the EPAat- issue for the Sierra
Because the Louisville Metro Air tempted to adopt health-based air Club.
.··Pollution Control District depends on standards for many of the hazardous Later, in a second
th~ EPArules for guidance, that kind. air pollutants. But the agency only phase, the agency is re-
• of'.1!1-a~hdoe_sn't add up for some succeeded in doing so with seven as quired to revisit each of
l;Quisvilleresidents who learned this the process bogged down in scientific its rules to determine
Y~Jlrt~atthey are breathing air with 18 and political disputes. whether they had re-
o1iem1cals or compounds at unsafe So·in 1990, Congress stepped in duced health risks suf-
levels. with a new, technology-based ap- ficiently. ·
proach,
 Keri Mitchell, who '
directs the EPA's re-
gional Risk and Expo-
sure Asse·ssment
Group in Atlanta and
was involved in a re- !
cent Louisville air
study, said Congress
never envisioned a
quick fix for bringing ·.
hazardous air poliu- :,
tants down to accept- i .
able levels,. · _ . . __ I
- "Unfortunately (the) whole proc-·
ess is playing out over a 20-yearpe-
. riod and we're only half waythrough
that'process." · :::._,. . ,
The agencymissed the 2000de~d-:
linefor the first phase of the pollut10n·•
controlrulesfor 174industrialcatego~
ries.Whilesomeofthe4lmajorindus,
trial facilitiesin Jefferson Couno/are
already required to comply with at
leastone ofthe pollutioncontrolrules,
more than-half are still waiting for
: rules that applyto them...
! For example; four Rubbertown ,
/ plants are coveredby a new,366-page I
i rulethatwaspostedNov.10.- \
The plants, Rohm and Haas, I>u-!
Pont DowElastomers,AmericanSyn-.
thetic Rubber and Zeon Chemicals,
willhaveuntil2006to complywith,the ·
rule and to reduce emissions of 11-u-
merous chemicals,includingtoluene; ..
hydrogen chloride, acrylonitrileand 1 . BY NINA GREIPEL, THE.COURIEF.bJOURNAL
xylene. · · · . Dannlf Schweinhart_remo~ed cros~~s:plap,e,C:f
It calls for burning atleast 98 per- outside the Borde11.Chem1cal Plantpn,C,an,1p.
cent of the designatedchemicals.Na- Ground Road ~uring a protest lasttnont~. E~ch
tionally, the EPA estima~esthe 1:1le cross bore the name ofa Riverside Gardens. .
will reduce hazardous air pollutwn neighborhood resident who has died ofcancer
emissionsby 16,809tons annually._·· or a respiratory ailment. ·- --- ···· ·
"Wehave a proJectteam ..: trying '~
to figureout whatwe needto do,''.sai~·
Jana Zigrye, an environmen~al~ngi-
neer at Rohm and Haas; It will likely
require millions
·. -~----··-··
of dollars' worth
._ .._______--··---·· ....
,. --
of
EPA officials said they take the Council's regulatory policy _d,epart-
new.pollutioncontrols,she said. risks from hazardous air pollutants fuent."Changescari'ttakepl~ceover-
At Zeon and American Synthetic : . seriously and have moved as quickly night.Youcan't just vi~in aridflip ~
Rubber, the new rule only affects a!. as they can. They said they faced a switch.You need to thmk through,1t
small part of their processes.and•the' huge job identifying the industries and make appropriatechanges."•· •
companies.are already largely eom- and the technologiesthey used. They The next phase shouldaccomplish
plyingwithit, officialsfromeachplant also said the congressionaldeaplines. even more, she said, · ·.· · · ··. ·
said. . were unrealistic. , ·. Environmentalists have their
James Pew, a lawyer with the "Itjust took a longtime," said Pen- doubts,however.
group Earthjusticewho has repeated- ny Lassiter,who directs the EPAdivi- William.s;who heads the Sierra
ly sued the EPAfor failingto meet its sionthat establishesthe hazardousair Club's air toxics task force; said the
deadlinesfor imposinghazardousair pollutantrules. "Thegoodnews at this EPAis now back where it was iri the
pollutantrules, is frustratedby the de- pointis that we onlyhavefour ofthese 1970sand 1980s,as it attempts to cal-
lays. industrycategoriesleft." . culate health risks from remaining ·
"Thanksto EPAnot gettingthe job They are due out in February. hazardous air pollutantemissions..
done, the guy who.livesnext to a rub- Industry officialssay the EPAhas WIiliamssaid she expectsmorepa-
ber plant in Louisvilleis getting how done well. . · ralysis and more blowndeadlinesbe-
many more years of uncontrolled "It's an amazing feat to have ac- cause the science of assessingrisk is
emissionsinto his house,"he said. "If complished,':said RasmaZvaners,di- so uncertain, and thus open to chal-
that guygets sick,maybehe can thank rector of the American Chemistry lenge, and she notesthat nearlyevery
the agencyfor.breakingthe law."

• • • • . ~.
Art ':Afllhams1sd1recto~of the 'Louisv1_1!e
Metro Air Pollution Control District, which reiies on the-federal - · . ..
Emmonmental Protection Age~cy to s_etguidelines on reg~lating ha.zardous air pollutants. TheEPA is almost ·
four yearsoverdueon completmg~at1onalrules for reducingtoxicair emissions. . · •··
. .... -···
groupof chemicalshasits own indus- 1
try lob~yingo~ganization. · i
" EP~.sLassiter acknowledgedthat '.
a:1Yt1.meyou start.talking about the .!
science of health effects, that it be- .i
comesa lot more difficult"She com- ·
mended the EP.NsAtlanta-based re- .J-•·
gion for working with Louisville to ;i
better understand and address the .
risks area residents face from hazard-
ous air pollutants.
That's little consolation for sonie
western Louisvilleresidents, many of
whom beli~ve air pollution has long
ca~sed senol!s health problems in
thei: commurnty--cchargesthat com~-.
.pamesdeny and governmentagencies ;
have not confirmed. .
"When ~eop!e feel they are hurt, ·
the frustration 1s there;" said Arnita
Gadson, execlltive director of the
West Jefferson County Community .
Tas~ For?~, which oversaw a study .
that identifiedthe toxic chemicalsand
compoundsin Louisville-areaair.
I
I
. .. BYMICHAELCLEVENGER,
THECOUF!iER'.JQURNAL :I
.. ...
. . . . ~----
"Theyfeeltheyhavebeerigivenex- : ·
cuses for so long." · :0
.Louisvilleresidents aren't alone in -,
breathing air with many toxic·chem~
icals and compounds, said Williain
Becker,executivedirectorofthe State ,
and TerritorialAir PollutionProgram .
Administratorsand the Associationof :
Local Air PollutioniControlOfficers: ·
As many as 200µlillionAmericansare
breathing unhealthylevelsoftoxic air,
he said. ' · .
"What'sjricredibleis that ... there ...
hasn't beeri the kind of national com-
prehensive air toxics control effort·
that's needed" from the EPA,Becker ·
said.
Lo a1data at
District lacks staff
.to correct errors in
:enforcementreports;
BvJlUJiES
16Rm.mre~s
jbruggers@courier-joumal.com
TheCourier.Journal ·
The UB. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency operates s.Web site where
the public can get nearly current eJ?.•
forcement information on approxi-
mately 800,000facilities nationwide.
. But the air pollution inf?~a~ion
on Jefferson County plants 1s hm1ted
and. in some cases, ,.vrong. · other local and state air environment
The Louisville Metro Air Pollution
~ntrol pjstri~_~only_rece~tJy !JegcJ,~!()
provide information on inspections,
enforcement actions and penalties to :
theEPAinaformatthatallowsthefed-
eral agency to make it available on its j
Web site. .· ·!
Called ECHO,for Enf,orcementand. i
Compliance History Online, the inter~ c
active site has been operatingJor a
year and has received more than 1mil-
iion search requests. It cari be viewed
at www.epa.gov/echo/index.html . plete data," said David Hinden, acting
The site allows people to find com- .
pliance information onfacilities in •
their communities, states or regions i
for the past two years. It covers infor- :
mation on facilities that must comply •
with federal regulations on water pol- ·
lution, management of hazardous
wastes and air pollution. ·.·
"ECHO reports provide :asnapshot
of a faciliiy's environmental record,
·eb sit unreliable
showing dates and types of violations,
as well as the state or federal govern-
ment's response," according to the
EPA.
Yet someone checking to see
.
. whether a local industrial plant had
been inspected recently by.the metro.
. air district might find - erroneously
- that no inspector had been there in
years. Or a fine might be in the wrong
column or missing altogether.
Local and federal officials ac-
knowledge the problem, and say it's
being slowly fixed. .
The metro air district's enforce-
ment supervisor, Terri Phelps; said the'
Louisville agency -: along with some
regulators - does not have the man-
power to go back and fill in the blanks .·.
and fix errors. ·
"It's full of erroneous data," Phelps
· saidofECHO. ' .
ECHO's managers agree thatiocal.
air districts have had a harder time
meeting the Web site's reporting
needs but said it's largely accurate for
.·most areas of the.United States.
· "Weknowtherearesomegapsand
holes, but we are getting more com- .
director of agency's Enfmcement,
Planning, Targeting and Data Divi-
sion. · .. ·
Of the information on the site,
more than 99 p~rcent is accurate, .he
said. The problem is that some juris-
dictions, such as Louisville, have not
until this year directly entered their
data into a federal comp1,1.ter system.
The system "is olcland .difficult to
use," Phelps said. ·