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Whirlpool Media Monitoring 2/11/2016
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Whirlpool Confirms Staph Infection at Ft. Smith Plant
Mar 7, 2014 | KSFM
Whirlpool officials are dealing with an outbreak of staph infection at their Fort Smith plant. -
Whirlpool says toxic testing hampered at Fort Smith site
Jun 25, 2014 | Time Record
By Chad Hunter
FORT SMITH — Citing a lack of permission from residents, Whirlpool is asking the state for more time to install a handful of devices that test for toxic vapors in a neighborhood north of the company’s closed Fort Smith plant. -
Whirlpool Meets With Fort Smith City Directors
Jul 8, 2014 | KSFM
By MEREDITH MARNEY
Fort Smith city directors and Mayor Sandy Sanders met down with Whirlpool officials to talk about the company's clean up efforts at the closed plant located on Jenny Lind. -
Whirlpool negotiates for contamination testing at Fort Smith youth club
Aug 18, 2014 | Times Record
By Chad Hunter
FORT SMITH — Whirlpool Corp. is negotiating with the state to test property owned by the Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club for contamination. - See more at: http://arkansasnews.com/news/arkansas/whirlpool-negotiates-contamination-testing-fort-smith-youth-club#sthash.nr3GJAXW.dpuf -
Whirlpool Progress Report Shows TCE Levels Down In Most, But Not All Areas
Jan 15, 2015 | KFSM
By LAURA SIMON,
FORT SMITH (KFSM)- Representatives from Whirlpool said they're making progress as they work to clean up the trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination in the groundwater beneath and north of their shuttered factory in Fort Smith.
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Whirlpool Confirms Staph Infection at Ft. Smith Plant
Mar 7, 2014 | KSFM
Whirlpool officials are dealing with an outbreak of staph infection at their Fort Smith plant.
An employee tells 5NEWS at least 11 cases have been reported. Officials with Whirlpool confirmed Friday they are taking steps to clean the facility after they say they were notified by local health officials of “several cases of Staph infections from Whirlpool employees.”
“We contacted the local health department which indicated they had seen an increase in these types of infections in the general population and attributed them in part to a growing use of health clubs and increase in tattooing,” said Kristine Vernier, Whirlpool Corporation spokesperson, in a statement to the media.
Employees tell 5NEWS that they’ve already been made to “wipe down” the facility. The plant plans to have employees conduct additional cleanup efforts over the weekend.
“We were assured by the health department that the industrial cleaning product we use on a regular basis should be very effective,” Vernier said.
The following was released to employees of Whirlpool’s Fort Smith Division Friday:
EMPLOYEE NOTICE:
Fort Smith Division Employees:
Recently, we had a medical facility inform us that they have seen several cases of Staph infections from Whirlpool employees. We have reached out to the Department of Health and they have informed us that there has been an increase in these types of infections within the community. We are following the Department of Health’s suggestions and are taking precautions throughout the plant to ensure common areas are cleaned and disinfected. Cleaning products have been distributed to business to utilize for disinfecting their respective areas. Additionally, we plan to procure a professional cleaning service to treat all the restrooms and high traffic areas over the weekend. Handouts outlining personal precautions you can take will also be available from your supervisor. Thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation.According to the Centers for Disease Control, Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to as “staph,” are bacteria healthy people can carry on the skin or in the nose. Staph bacteria commonly cause skin infections, such as boils. Most of these infections are not life-threatening.
In October, the company announced plans to shut down the plant on Jenny Lind Road by June 2012.
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Whirlpool says toxic testing hampered at Fort Smith site
Jun 25, 2014 | Time Record
By Chad Hunter
FORT SMITH — Citing a lack of permission from residents, Whirlpool is asking the state for more time to install a handful of devices that test for toxic vapors in a neighborhood north of the company’s closed Fort Smith plant.
The testing, called soil gas monitoring, was initially requested by the city based on the presence of trichloroethylene, or TCE, underneath the plant and nearby homes. It involves the installation of cylindrical sampling devices that test for toxic vapors.
“Where we have property, we’ve been able to do that,” Whirlpool spokesman Jeff Noel said. “As it relates to doing so on private property, we have to get an agreement from the residents. We knew there were areas that seem to make the most sense to do this additional testing. It’s in those areas we haven’t had the agreements.”
TCE, which is linked to an increased risk of cancer according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was used at Whirlpool as a degreasing solvent between the late 1960s and early 1980s before it was deemed harmful, according to the company.
Whirlpool says contamination was discovered at the plant in May 1989, then underneath the neighborhood 12 years later. The Sebastian County Assessor’s Office lists the off-site contaminated area as having three commercial properties, 17 homes and more than 30 rental properties.
The plant on Jenny Lind Road was closed in June 2012. Since then, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and Whirlpool have agreed upon a long-range cleanup plan that began in March with the treatment of groundwater with a chemical oxidant. The plan also calls for covering impacted soil on the plant property with asphalt, in addition to natural attenuation.
Although both Whirlpool and ADEQ insist there are no toxic vapors making their way to the surface, Fort Smith city leaders asked the state to encourage additional air testing more than a year ago.
“ADEQ is on the record confirming there are no concerns over vapor intrusion,” Noel said. “But the city had requested we do additional activities to re-enforce that. Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to get the access agreements in the locations in which we’d like to do these vapor tests.”
Noel added that the lack of cooperation from residents is “complicated.”
“I know there are a lot of emotions,” he said. “I also know, because lawsuits have been filed, there is advice being given by counsel. My suspicion is there are a lot of issues that go into it. That’s one of the reasons we are asking for the extension.”
On request from the Fort Smith Board of Directors, Noel will attend a July 8 study session to address the discovery this year of a toxic hot spot near the plant’s degreaser building.
“Now they’re deciding maybe they need to excavate it and remove the soil,” Ward 3 Director Mike Lorenz said. “I know (At-Large Director Kevin Settle) and myself both last year asked them why they wouldn’t do it. It just stands to reason that if you have a highly contaminated amount of soil in one location, removing it’s the best way to stop it.”
- See more at: http://arkansasnews.com/news/arkansas/whirlpool-says-toxic-testing-hampered-fort-smith-site#sthash.yunkKDPf.dpuf
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Whirlpool Meets With Fort Smith City Directors
Jul 8, 2014 | KSFM
By MEREDITH MARNEY
Fort Smith city directors and Mayor Sandy Sanders met down with Whirlpool officials to talk about the company's clean up efforts at the closed plant located on Jenny Lind.
Whirlpool officials also said they are one step away from a finalized sale for a large portion of the property.
"We have a signed purchase agreement on the warehouse property and 50 additional acres for future development," Whirlpool official Jeff Noel said. "This is a purchase agreement that has contingencies."
The sale is expected to be complete in less than two months.
The company said crews have already done two rounds of chemical injections into the contaminated groundwater to break down a plume of Trichloroethylene (TCE).
People in the area said they're scared that the contamination is affecting their health.
A local resident said the plume of (TCE) has caused him health problems. Raymond Flowers has lived on Jacobs Street for the past 17 years. He worked at Whirlpool for 35 years and retired just before the plant shut down. Flowers has now been diagnosed with dementia. He said the dementia came from working at Whirlpool.
"When I worked at whirlpool I was okay then when I got done with whirlpool I had dementia and I think that had to do with that big plum coming in," said Flowers.
Whirlpool officials said the TCE is not toxic and does not present any health problems.
Whirlpool announced that the company has reached a resolution with property ownersin a class-action lawsuit, according to a news release from the company.
Whirlpool said they will pay for property value lost between 2012 and 2013.
"Whirlpool will pay for all the legal costs and all the court costs so the property owners can receive the full value of what that happens to be," said Noel.
At this point, Flowers said that moving out of their home is not an option. They are looking at different ways they can make the best of the situation.
"To pay us the proposal that we have given them and to pay any medical that comes in the long run for anyone of the residents that has stayed there for a period of time," said Marian Keene who is a resident in the area.
Noel said the plume of TCE is shrinking.
"We`ve injected about 25,000 chem-ox treatment in the ground," Noel said.
Noel said a year and half of testing remains.
The meeting was held Tuesday (July 8) at the Fort Smith Senior Activity Center at 6:00 p.m.
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Whirlpool negotiates for contamination testing at Fort Smith youth club
Aug 18, 2014 | Times Record
By Chad Hunter
FORT SMITH — Whirlpool Corp. is negotiating with the state to test property owned by the Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club for contamination.
A portion of Whirlpool’s now-closed plant on Jenny Lind Road has been contaminated with trichloroethylene, or TCE, since at least 1989 when it was discovered at the site, according to environmental consulting firm Environ. The chemical, now known to be toxic, was later discovered underneath a neighborhood north of the plant.
Earlier this month, Whirlpool representative Jeff Noel said the testing request was prompted by samples taken from monitoring wells installed this year at the property’s northeast corner and across the street from Boys & Girls Club ballfields. Of those five monitoring wells, he said, three showed levels of TCE in groundwater, but not in soil.
The youth club has agreed to accommodate the testing. In a letter to Whirlpool, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality says it will grant permission for the additional tests under several conditions, one of which is to collect water and sediment samples from Mill Creek east of the youth club.
“We respectfully disagree with the request to ‘step out’ and collect surface and sediment samples from three locations in Mill Creek,” Environ states in a response sent to ADEQ last week. “Our reluctance to immediately initiate sampling of sediment and surface water in Mill Creek is based upon the magnitude of other sources for contamination to be present in Mill Creek, and little or no basis to distinguish this contamination, if present, from the Whirlpool property.”
Instead, Environ proposes to continue its “current sequential investigative approach and assess TCE impact confirmed to be associated with the site.”
Whirlpool also contends it already assessed soil and groundwater conditions at the northeast corner, finding “no TCE” in the soil samples.
“The concentration of TCE in groundwater at the northeast corner decreased significantly near the Whirlpool property boundaries,” the company says in a letter to the state.
Boys & Girls Club executive director Jerry Glidewell said the club’s Evans location is used for baseball and soccer. In a news release, the club says that based on public statements by state regulators, “we are confident that all young people, visitors and staff can continue to use the Evans club in a safe manner.”
Whirlpool is in the midst of a state-approved cleanup plan that began in March with the treatment of contaminated groundwater with a chemical oxidant. A second round of chemical injections took place in late May.
During a public hearing in November, ADEQ Deputy Director Ryan Benefield said that although “this chemical is toxic,” TCE is not making its way to the surface or expanding in size. He added that Whirlpool’s plan to use a chemical oxidant to treat the contaminated groundwater “will work based on the best information we have.”
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Whirlpool Progress Report Shows TCE Levels Down In Most, But Not All Areas
Jan 15, 2015 | KFSM
By LAURA SIMON,
FORT SMITH (KFSM)- Representatives from Whirlpool said they're making progress as they work to clean up the trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination in the groundwater beneath and north of their shuttered factory in Fort Smith.
The company released its annual progress report on Thursday (Jan. 15). It shows TCE concentrations are down in most, but not all areas.
“There`s areas we need to monitor closely because of all of the monitoring wells [both on and off site], 83-percent have either shown to be stable or areas of reduction,” Jeff Noel, Whirlpool VP of Communications and Public Affairs, said.
A monitoring well on Brazil Avenue is an example of an area where the contamination has actually increased, according to Noel. The contamination is a result of a chemical spill at the plant in the 1980s.
The report highlights a 55-percent reduction in the “neck area” of the spill located on the Whirlpool property in the parking lot area north of the northwest corner of the facility. It also shows a 55-percent decrease in the area north of Ingersoll Avenue.
Laretha Plunkett lives in the 1500 block of Jacobs Avenue.
“The assessor has devalued the property because of Whirlpool,” she said.
She said she is involved in a class-action lawsuit for the devaluation of her property.
“We`re continuing to have what I believe to have fruitful discussions with attorneys representing the property owners, and we are committed to finding the right agreement,” Noel said.
Whirlpool representatives said they're working closely with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and city leaders as well. The progress report states, "ADEQ has determined there has been no human exposure and thus no health risks to area residents."
“There`s no way to ingest [TCE], there`s no way to eat it, there`s no way to inhale it, there`s no way to drink it,” Noel said.
Plunkett believes she and her husband experienced related health problems, although they did not file a claim.
Representatives said the contamination, which had spread to a nearby Boys and Girls Club last year, is now contained, but they are monitoring it.
“All the staff and parents of the Boys and Girls Club need to know that that property is safe and safe for them to continue to enjoy,” Noel said.
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