Barton lawsuit meeting ...
Meeting attendees cuss, discuss city environmental issues

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006, 2 a.m. -- A crowd of about 20 people aired their complaints Wednesday night at Days Inn during a meeting called to discuss the environmental issues related to the Barton Brands distillery.

The group included Bardstown Mayor Dixie Hibbs, city councilmen Bobby Simpson and John Royalty, and council candidates Tommy Reed and Mark Hicks.

The gathering was advertised by Bardstown resident Dallas Armstrong as a meeting with environmental experts, activists and the attorneys representing the class action lawsuit against the distillery.

Those seeking answers or new information about the Barton soot/mold problem left the meeting empty-handed. Only one of the invited speakers -- Wallace McMullen energy committee chairman of the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club -- actually showed up at the meeting.

Armstrong had been promoting the meeting for more than a week during calls to WBRT, and in an advertisement he placed in the The Kentucky Standard.

He opened the meeting by discussing his personal experiences and health issues that he believes are caused by exposure to emissions from the distillery.

"This is not about the damned money," Armstrong told the group. "It's about getting results, and its about getting it cleaned up."

The technology now exists for the distillery to clean up their emissions. "If they don't like it, they can either clean up or get out," he said.

Armstrong said the Centers for Disease Control has a special team that can conduct testing to determine the levels of contamination in the air, water and soil. To get the CDC team to conduct the tests, the team must be requested by a government agency.

"Maybe there is something there," he said. "And maybe it isn't intentional. But until someone starts looking for answers we're all just guinea pigs."

Armstrong said that our area has a large number of people with respiratory issues. If you draw lines to connect Lebanon Junction, Bardstown and Clermont, it forms a perfect triangle -- a triangle that he calls "The Triangle of Death."

McMullen mediated the group discussion, arranging the group in a circle and asking them to share their experiences and concerns.

Business owner Jim Brockman said the Barton's soot is something he shouldn't have to live with. Brockman said he spent more than $400 to have the sign at his West Stephen Foster Ave. business removed, cleaned and replaced. "That's a cost I shouldn't have to pay," he said.

SOUTH FOURTH STREET. A group of South Fourth Street residents told the group of the environmental issues they've faced over the years.

Kim Linton said the odors from the sewer plant and the distillery on some days have been terrible in the South Fourth Street area.

Frank Douglas, also a South Forth Street resident, showed photos of his flooded backyard, and also said the city had not worked quickly on the sewer issues on South Fourth Street.

Beatrice Rogers also told the group stories of open sewage running in the creek behind her home, and the lack of help from City Hall. Raw sewage is also running from McGee Street into Teur's Lake, she said.

Paul Vance, a Barton employee, said he questioned the quality of the city's drinking water, which he said is too heavily chlorinated. "I have opened my tap and gotten pure chlorine gas out of it," he said. Since moving here several years ago, he said he has used filters on the water he, his family and pets consume.

The water can seem very chlorinated at times because the city water treatment plant needs a large storage tank at the facility, Mayor Hibbs said. The city is seeking a grant to help fund that project.

Hibbs took time to explain the city's responses to odor complaints, noting there are actually three different odors that can be present in the South Bardstown area.

One comes from the distillery pre-treatment lagoons, another comes from the sewer plant, and another comes from the grain drying operation at the distillery.

Hibbs said it became clear that the distillery lagoons were not effectively treating the facilities' waste. Bartons has been responsive and is working to make improvements to prevent future problems, she said.

"People in Edgewood and in South Fourth Street think the sewer plant is the major cause of their odor problem," she said. She's taken residents out to the sewer plant to show them that the odors are not coming from their.

ATTEMPTED COVER-UP? In a discussion of the city's wastewater treatment violations with Hibbs, Armstrong suggested the company or the city appeared to be involved in a cover-up.

In the wake of a brandy spill at the distillery, the city was cited by the state for not reporting a wastewater violation.

Hibbs explained that the spill was reported in the media prior to Bartons giving the city notice of the spill. The distillery waited two days before reporting the spill to the city.
"They were supposed to let us know immediately when this happens, but they did not--"

Armstrong interrupted Hibbs in mid-sentence to inject "That's the first sign of an attempted cover-up."

"Please?" a stunned Hibbs replied.

"That's the first sign of an attempted cover-up," he repeated. "If we do something like this and it goes unreported and no one notices or says anything, then maybe we can get away with it."

Hibbs asked him to clarify about to whom he was referring.

"I'm talking about anyone and everyone involved."

"We couldn't report it until Barton's told us," Hibbs explained. "After they told us and we told them (the state)."

Hibbs said the distillery did not try to cover up or deny the spill, and that it was working with the city more closely on the operation of its pre-treatment lagoon. "It's not to their advantage to lie," she said

Hibbs said she believes the odor situation with the distillery lagoons will improve. "It may not be today or tomorrow, but it will improve," she said.

WHAT ACTION TO TAKE? Meeting participant Sandra Spalding advocated bypassing local government and using petitions to get action on the issue.

Spalding said that as a mayor's wife she had seen how ineffective local government is.

"Politicians are trained not to tell the truth," she said. "Everybody make noise, you don't have to go through them," she said, referring to the mayor and councilmen across the circle.

Spalding suggested the group start a petition drive to help gather support for a CDC study.

The city officials and candidates all said they were open to options that would help solve the problems. "If there are answers to be found, well that's what I'm here for," Bobby Simpson said.

McMullen said it was encouraging to see local officials attend the meeting, and that the distillery is willing to work on complaints about its operation. He recommended the group formally organize in order to help monitor local environmental issues. "People as a group can be much more effective than as individuals," he said.

As the meeting ended, Douglas said he didn't advocate being too heavy-handed with the distillery because the company has shown a good-faith effort to correct problems. "I'm all about the velvet glove and the iron fist approach," he said. "If one doesn't work, then you use the other."