LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville residents continue to ask for answers after the catastrophic food dye plant explosion in 2024.
The Givaudan Sense Colour plant explosion killed two people and injured eleven others on Nov. 12, 2024.
Givaudan hosted a community meeting on Wednesday in the Clifton neighborhood.
About a dozen people came to Givaudan’s latest community meeting to get their questions answered about property repairs.
“I actually saw that there was this meeting online, and so I said, I’m going to come up here and, make them lie to my face,” said Randy Crumley.
Crumley’s home was a few yards from the Givaudan Plant explosion. He said his apartment and car were wrecked.
“My life has been destroyed. I’ve been displaced. Everything I own is in the city dump and, and it doesn’t seem like anybody really cares about that,” Crumley said.
He said he did his part by sending in an itemized list of damage belongings, but Crumley said he still hasn’t seen any money.
“I was wondering where my check is. I said, where’s the check for my car? Because you blew my car to smithereens, you had everything you needed for four months, for 120 days and so where’s that car check so I can go get a car so I can do car stuff,” he said.
At the meeting Crumley said insurance representatives told him a check for just his car should be coming soon.
“I wish we could tell you another update. I mean, there’s one guy that writes the checks and, the insurance company that we’re part of, they didn’t give us quite enough money for everything. So, you know, we’re settling claims that are, like, smaller and stuff like that,” he said.
Since the last community meeting, the Louisville Metro Government now has a webpage and a new team to answer questions about demolition, air pollution and runoff.
“We’ll be reaching out to other agencies and getting the answers for you. So, we’ll make it a much more streamlined process,” said Emily Marin, the point of contact person in Louisville Metro Codes and Regulations.
As for Crumley, he said, he is not feeling any better after Wednesday’s community meeting.
“I’m this close to filing for unemployment. I’ve never had to do it in my life. I was not going to do it. But man, I might be close to having to do it, but I’m telling you, I’m sick of SpaghettiOs,” Crumley said.
Givaudan said in a release in Jan. 2025 it will begin demolishing the plant when on-site investigations are completed.
The release also said Givaudan won’t be rebuilding on Payne Street.
It is considering several options for a future facility, including both in Kentucky and neighboring states.
