Kentucky’s governor says investigators will determine what caused the deadly factory explosion in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky’s governor promised Thursday that investigators will find out what causes a deadly explosion that tore apart a factory in Louisville and left shocked neighbors demanding answers.

The mayor of Louisville, meanwhile, indicated he would like to move the plant’s operations elsewhere in the city.

The explosion at Givaudan Sense Color on Tuesday killed two workers, injured 11 other workers and caused a partial collapse of the factory, which produces dyes for food and drinks.

The decades-old factory is tucked into a residential area east of the center of Kentucky’s largest city. In some nearby homes, the mid-afternoon explosion blew out windows, tore off chunks of roofs and caused things hanging on walls to fall. Some residents compared it to an exploding bomb.

“We will get to the bottom of it and make sure we have all the facts once the investigation is complete,” Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said at a news conference in Frankfort. “If there are lessons we can learn from this and pass on to other companies, then we should do so.”

Federal, state and local investigators are investigating the blast.

Investigators will interview plant employees and others who were nearby when the explosion occurred, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg’s office said Thursday. Switzerland-based Givaudan has said it is cooperating with authorities.

The mayor’s office also expressed support for local residents who expressed concerns that Givaudan could rebuild on the same site.

“Mayor Greenberg shares the same concerns and believes there are better locations in Louisville for this facility and has conveyed that to Givaudan leadership,” Greenberg’s office said in a statement.

People who live near the plant said they want to hear directly from the company.

“I feel like the company has done nothing other than release a statement,” Carly Johnson, who has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years, said Wednesday.

Greenberg has said the company was invited to speak at a news conference on Wednesday, but no representatives attended.

The company said Wednesday it was “deeply saddened” by the deaths and “mourned with the families, friends and loved ones of those lost and injured during this very difficult time.” Activities include making natural coloring ingredients used in a variety of foods and beverages.

Beshear said Thursday that local residents deserve to hear directly from company officials, and that the company should be “completely transparent” with them.

“I believe that any business that has an explosion in a community should be there to talk to the neighbors and assure them that they will take reasonable steps,” the governor said.

The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Beshear’s comments. The company told WHAS-TV it plans to speak with neighbors at a community meeting next week.

The workplace fatalities at the plant have been reported to the Kentucky Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance and an investigation has been opened, the state said Thursday. The investigation could take up to six months, the report said.

As of February 2021, the plant made caramel coloring for the food industry by heating sugar and water and adding chemicals such as aqueous ammonia for some products, according to permit documents filed with the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District. At the time of the permits the factory was still owned by DD Williamson & Co. Givaudan bought the factory that year from DD Williamson.

In April 2003, an explosion at the same location killed a caramel color factory worker. Federal investigators determined that a tank exploded because there was no pressure relief valve, according to a Chemical Safety Board report.

Robin Durkin, who lives down the street from the factory, said this week’s explosion rattled her house. Pictures fell off the wall, her TV fell over and dishes broke.

“I’ve never heard or felt anything like this,” she said. ‘It was terrible. … I really thought a bomb went off.”

Johnson said she hopes it all ends when the company moves out of the area.

“I’m not okay with them still being here,” she said.

Tonya Wilkerson, who lives about a block from the plant, said she has no plans to move.

“We have a great location,” she said Wednesday. “We want them to move.”

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Associated Press journalists Dylan Lovan and Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.