BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – WBKO News has received confirmation that officials have identified one of the sources of the suds that formed in Lost River Cave over the past few months.
According to Matt Powell, Bowling Green City Environmental Manager, laundry detergent production company Henkel Corporations has been confirmed as a source of the suds.
Henkel’s Bowling Green laundry manufacturing facility produces various brands of laundry detergent.
Investigations found a broken piece of infrastructure in the Henkel facility, intended to handle waste materials, was leaking linear alkylbenzene sulfonates into the groundwater.
On September 16, the city issued a notice of violation to the facility, which listed several violations of city stormwater regulations:
- Illicit Discharge; Applicability, Responsibility
- Failure to respond to or properly report a pollutant release
- Infrastructure not meeting specifications
- Failure to provide an as-built drawing
- Failure to obtain all required permit
- Failure to adhere to approved permit
- Failure to perform maintenance and keep records per the MA
- Failure to provide Post Construction Stormwater Quality Management Plan
Henkel has been ordered to immediately cease all discharges of non-stormwater fluids to its injection wells, as well as take any measures needed to find and eliminate points where illicit discharges may take place.
Powell said that Henkel cannot be confirmed as the “only” source of the suds at this time, but the city doesn’t “have any indicators that anybody else is contributing at the moment.”
As a penalty, the city requires Henkel to reimburse them for all costs sustained during the investigation. However, they will not be legally obligated to pay Lost River back for any out-of-pocket expenses.
Powell said Henkel has been fully cooperative in the investigation so far.
WBKO News has reached out to Henkel for comment on this matter.
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