Louisville officials mourn victims of 'unthinkable' plant explosion amid investigation

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Emergency management crews cleaned up damage Wednesday after a chemical plant explosion left two people dead and several others injured.

The blast occurred Tuesday afternoon at the Givaudan Sense Colour facility in Louisville's Clifton neighborhood. While several nearby homes and businesses were damaged, Louisville Fire Chief Brian O'Neill confirmed investigators have not yet found any evidence that hazardous chemicals were released.

Mayor Craig Greenberg said a dozen people were taken to a hospital, including one person who died. A second person who died was found in the building just after midnight.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Greenberg held a moment of silence for the two people who were killed. Neither person had been publicly identified out of respect for their families.

Stefanie Lauber, head of corporate communications for Givaudan Sense Colour, told The Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the two people killed were employees. Lauber said the company is "deeply saddened" by what happened.

There is no immediate threat to the surrounding community, she added, and Givaudan is investigating and cooperating with authorities.

"This is incredibly sad and tragic incident," Greenberg said at the news conference. "These two individuals who have passed went to their job on an ordinary day to provide for their family when the unthinkable happened."

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What happened at the plant explosion?

The explosion occurred shortly after 3 p.m. local time on Tuesday and could be heard miles away. Firefighters were on the scene about three minutes later, O'Neill said Wednesday.

Louisville Metro Emergency Services Executive Director Jody Meiman said about 300 calls to 911 were received in the aftermath, roughly triple the amount the city would receive in that time on a normal day. A shelter-in-place order in a one-mile radius was in effect for about an hour after the blast but was then lifted.

"This was a business that is known to us," O'Neill said. "Our companies do a very good job of inspecting their first-alarm area. They know what's out there. So we knew right away that we were dealing not only with a fire, but also a structural collapse and also a hazardous materials incident."

Still, he said, responding to such a scene after an explosion is "extraordinarily difficult." Firefighters helped evacuate several people onsite, including one victim partially buried. The cause of the blast has not yet been identified, he said, but should be determined during the investigation.

Dr. Jason Smith, University of Louisville Hospital's chief medical officer, said doctors who treated victims dealt with a "spectrum of injuries" consistent with an explosion, including blast injuries, thermal injuries and injuries from falling debris.

Initially, all employees were believed to have been accounted for shortly after the explosion, Greenberg said. But O'Neill said later in the evening it became clear one person had not been found. Firefighters continued their search, he said, and found the second victim fatally injured "in an area into the center of the rubble" just after midnight.

"This is a discipline that has to move very slowly because of the potential for a secondary collapse," he said.

'I heard it and felt it in the ground'

Clifton resident Arthur Smith was walking along Spring Street, about half a mile from the facility, when the explosion rocked the city.

“I heard it and felt it in the ground,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “I tell you what, it grabbed your attention.”

Karen Roberts, assistant community director at nearby Axis at Lexington, was showing off an apartment to a prospective renter when she heard the explosion.

Tenants at the 300-unit complex along nearby Lexington Road rushed to their balconies to see what happened, she said. The apartments lost power for about 10 seconds, briefly locking out some residents.

“It was so loud. I couldn’t believe it,” she said after fielding calls in her office, while police rushed to the scene several blocks away. “… You can pretty much see the plant in some people's back windows.”

Owners of Witches Brew Coffee, which opened on Frankfort Avenue in late August, shared a video from inside their business at the time of the blast. The explosion shifted artwork that hangs on the coffee shop's walls.

Witches Brew Coffee didn't sustain any exterior damage, though other businesses weren't as fortunate. Several Frankfort Avenue businesses shuttered Tuesday afternoon after their windows were shattered, including Beckman Fitness and Quills Coffee.

O'Neill did not have an initial count on how many homes or businesses sustained damage.

Some homes may still have debris in their yard, Greenberg said. He urged residents to refrain from removing debris or touching damage, instead requesting they call MetroSafe in order to help investigators. Homeowners with houses that were damaged should reach out to their insurance companies as well, he said.

'We hear the concerns of the neighbors loud and clear'

Jacob Hayden, a Payne Street resident, questioned the wisdom of allowing a manufacturing plant to operate in a densely populated area, noting a similar incident took place at the same plant about 21 years ago.

“There shouldn’t be a factory in a residential neighborhood if you ask me. At all,” Hayden said. “There needs to be a long look into the company.”

The earlier explosion took place in April 2003, killing one worker and triggering a "massive release of aqua ammonia," The Courier Journal reported. The plant was operated by D.D. Williamson & Co. at the time of that explosion, which was later found to have been caused by an over-pressurized feed tank. It reopened later that year and has since been bought by Givaudan.

Givaudan, which produces food coloring, was issued two citations last year by the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District — one over failure to submit annual reports and to monitor and record equipment ranges, and another over failure to submit notices of excess emissions, as required by district regulations. Both cases were resolved through settlements with the district for a combined sum of $7,500.

Greenberg said he's heard concerns from neighbors about the plant, and they'll be taken into account after emergency response efforts have concluded.

"Today is not the day to have those conversations with the company. We are focused on the victims and their families, finding out what happened (and) providing support to all of the victims' families," he said Wednesday. "But we hear the concerns of the neighbors loud and clear and that certainly will be something on our mind as we talk about the future."

Representatives from Givaudan were invited to Wednesday's news conference but did not attend, Greenberg added.

"Our priority right now is on our team members, the families of those we have lost and those that were injured in this accident," Lauber said in an email Wednesday. "We are in touch with them, and committed to supporting them in the coming days and weeks."

Reporters Leo Bertucci and Connor Giffin contributed to this article. Contact The Courier Journal's news team at lounews@courier-journal.com.