Looks like if Rubbertown isn’t burning, it’s smoldering. From the indubitable James Bruggers, via The C-J, wherein the American Synthetic Rubber Co. pays a paltry fine for pumping sulfur dioxide into the lungs of area residents:

Air district officials said the plant, located in Rubbertown on Camp Ground Road, violated terms of a permit that governs the operation of two coal-fired boilers on 78 occasions from 2002 through 2008, resulting in extra sulfur dioxide getting into the air.

The permit that the company violated is one that’s designed to prevent local air quality from getting worse, while also protecting air quality in national parks in the region. Sulfur dioxide contributes to respiratory illness, acid rain, and adds to the atmospheric particles that cause a pollution haze, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It can travel long distances.

At issue was whether the permit included an hourly sulfur dioxide limit in addition to sulfur dioxide limits that could be averaged over a month. The district said “yes,” but the company said “no.”

Well, I’ll be gosh darned: Just a simple miscommunication, right? RIGHT?

The Louisville Air Pollution Control District just recently underwent “streamlining” to the effect that (1) the requirements viz. acceptable emissions levels would be easier to handle so that (2) stupid and dangerous shit like this wouldn’t happen. But Murphy’s law being the rule — rather than the exception — we’re just glad the West End hasn’t exploded already. (We’d knock on wood, but we’re too afraid)