Whirlpool asks to remove water well ban request

Residents expecting a vote on a groundwater drilling ban near the former Whirlpool manufacturing plant at tomorrow (March 27) night's Fort Smith Board of Directors meeting may have to wait a little longer.

According to an letter from Jeffrey Noel, corporate vice president of communications and public affairs at Whirlpool, to city planning director Wally Bailey, Whirlpool believes there has been a misunderstanding regarding the intent of the ban and wants the ordinance pulled.

"We absolutely understand the concerns raised by residents and city officials (about trichloroethylene, or TCE, contamination), and we appreciate some may have the perception that Whirlpool would do nothing more at the site after the ban was imposed."

Noel goes on to say that nothing could be further from the truth.

"We are committed to ongoing work with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to resolve this situation."

At the conclusion of the letter, Noel requested that the proposed ordinance be withdrawn from tomorrow's meeting agenda.

"Should experts in this area continue to believe a well drilling ban is an appropriate action, we will propose the ban to be considered at a later date, but only after a public meeting has been held with the residents to discuss the proposed long-term solution, and only after ADEQ has finalized the plan."

A groundwater well ban request was first discussed with the Board of Directors on Feb. 12, when Whirlpool's Fayetteville-based attorney Robert Jones III spoke at the Board's noon study session.

At the meeting, Dr. Tamara House-Knight of ENVIRON, an environmental consulting group hired by Whirlpool, told city officials that TCE was a possible carcinogen, though there was no risk to residents unless they drank tainted water.

"In this circumstance because it's outside, there's no risk except in oral ingestion," she said. "This is just through ingestion through drinking water."

Even though House-Knight insisted that there was no risk except by oral ingestion, the claim was not substantiated through information obtained from the Centers for Disease Control.

"In studies with people, there are many factors that are not fully understood. More studies need to be done to establish the relationship between exposure to trichloroethylene and cancer," said a CDC public health statement on TCE.

This is the first statement The City Wire has been able to obtain from Whirlpool since Jones and House-Knight appeared before the Board in February.

After attempting to contact Whirlpool by calling (888) 923-9745, a number available for residents in the neighborhood north of the former facility to address concerns with the company, The City Wire received the following response from senior global public and media relations manager Kristine Vernier:

"…we received your call through our phone line set up for residents of the area. Unfortunately we do not respond to requests from the City Wire due to a past, consistent pattern of behavior from this blog which we found to be contrary to common journalistic standards."

Vernier provided no further comment and did not respond to our original interview request about a town hall event to be held tonight involving environmental activist Erin Brockovich.

Even though Whirlpool has requested the ordinance be removed from tomorrow's agenda, City Administrator Ray Gosack said in an e-mail that it will still be on tomorrow's meeting agenda.

"Only the Board can table the ordinance (or take any other action on it). The ordinance is still on the agenda unless four directors ask that it be removed. So far, no director has asked that it be removed."

Tonight's (March 26) town hall event begins at 6 p.m. at the Fort Smith Senior Activity Center at Cavanaugh Road and South 28th Street.

Link here for a PDF copy of Noel's letter.