Rubbertown plant could be fined more than $100K for safety violations

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Rubbertown plant with a history of chemical leaks and safety violations would face more than $100,000 in fines as part of a proposed settlement.

White smokes billows from Hexion Inc. off Camp Ground Road.

Officials at the Louisville Air Pollution Control District say the chemical facility has racked up 50 safety violations in just a year and a half.

"Something went wrong," Steven Gravatte, a spokesman for the Metro Louisville agency, said.

One of those violations includes a worker who put a safety alarm on mute.

"These repeat violations of mechanical issues, sensors going bad, told us they were not operating their plant well and needed to fix it," Gravatte said.

Leaders from the Louisville Air Pollution Control District hope the $102,000 fine the city is levying against Hexion Inc. will serve as a wake-up call.

"The better they operate their plant, the less chance they have of a large accident happening," Gravatte said.

Hexion produces adhesives, resins and coatings used in everything from car parts to construction. Although the company's website boasts that it is safety-conscious, it's proposed settlement with the city admits to 50 excess emission events.

That includes one incident in which a formaldehyde tank overflowed, leaking the known carcinogen.

The Air Pollution Control District says the warning alarm was on mute.

"In July of 2018, they had a fatigued employee potentially muted a high-level alarm and caused a tank to overfill," Gravatte said. "And if the alarm had not been muted, it would have alerted people there was an issue."

Hexion officials were unwilling to provide an on-camera response Tuesday afternoon, and refused to allow a WDRB News crew on company property.

In a statement, a spokesperson said the company, "Implemented operational improvements to actively and successfully address the concern."

That statement drew skepticism from Eboni Cochran, the leader of Rubbertown Emergency Action, also known as REACT, a group of neighbors living in the shadow of the Rubbertown plants.

"People in the area do worry," Cochran said.

The city fined Hexion roughly $250,000 last year for violations dating back to 2015.

The new penalties address some of the same problems the $1 billion company never fixed.

"People can't just up and move, No. 1, and No. 2, people should have a right to live wherever they want to live, and wherever they choose to live should have clean air," Cochran said.

Hexion has not gone over its emissions limit for the year. The number of incidents are high, but the amount leaked is low.

The Air Pollition Control Board is scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday that will include a public hearing on Hexion. That meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at 701 West Ormsby Avenue.

Leaders will decide whether to accept the settlement.