So you may have heard about this (fatal and tragic) ammonia leak at the American Cold Storage building. Although we’re eager to know just how it started, the fact that the ACS distribution center, which is essentially one gigantic chemical freezer, is located a heartbeat away from homes, businesses, and the University of Louisville Belknap campus is reason enough to question the logic behind the River City’s archaic zones of industry.

The vast majority of Jefferson County’s air pollution (aside from pollutants emitted by automobiles) is generated by the chemical plants of Rubbertown, which has seen more than its fair share of chemical spills, leaks and fires over the years, and is located a scant three miles west of 607 Industry Rd. where the ACS leak occurred. Within a three mile radius, hundreds upon thousands of people live, walk their dogs, and plant gardens in close proximity to compounds that will melt your face off. Simply due to their geographic disadvantage, their daily lives are adversely affected by the same multi-syllabic chemicals that make your Nalgene water bottle so nifty and librul.

I’m not saying every one of these plants is a death trap. Or that some of them aren’t state of the art, gainful places of employment. Or that every resident within this three-mile radius is a walking, talking Toxic Avenger. But there’s something that should be said for having to live in the fear that, one day, industrial-grade, R717 anhydrous ammonia might stop by for dinner and never fucking leave.

In fact, it begs a closer look at the placement of such facilities in predominately residential areas, of which BrokenSidewalk.com offers an excellent alternative; considering Chicago’s South Side’s transformation from industrial slum to future largest solar power plant in the nation, BS writes:

… what if Louisville started down this road of thinking big sustainably? We could create our own sort of eco-city-within-a-city.  And we could do it in some of the most centrally located and affordable neighborhoods in the city.  There are plenty of brownfield sites in Louisville sitting neglected that could house some sort of solar plant.  The new green end should incorporate more than just solar energy though (either centrally produced at a plant or locally produced on a house’s roof).  Emphasis on energy efficiency, transit, walkability could create a veritable “Green End.”

Imagine that… a way to save jobs lost by relocating dirty industries and reduce the Ohio River Valley’s smogginess and produce our own clean energy and improve the quality of life in some of Louisville’s most destitute neighborhoods. It’ll never work.

Of course, these plants were built at a time when necessity and economic growth outweighed our full understanding of technology’s dark side, as I’m sure there was no real malice intended when the City drew up the zoning ordinances that would put families next to highly volatile chemical-processing units. It’s just a case of the cart being put before the horse, except the cart has been contaminated with ethyl acrylate and the horse… well, let’s just say it’s incontinent.

But we know now, and shouldn’t that be enough to re-examine the ongoing danger that continues to shape the lives lived within all of Louisville’s communities?