LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On Tuesday, the Givaudan caramel coloring plant on Payne Street exploded, causing the death of two people and injuring several others. Multiple nearby homes were damaged from the blast along with neighboring businesses and buildings.
During a press conference on Friday, Givaudan Sense Colour President Ann Leonard said the company is devastated by Tuesday's explosion.
"We know this event has been felt deeply throughout the community, and believe me, we feel it too," she said.
The investigation into what caused the explosion is still in it's early stages. There is no information on a cause available at this time.
"Our priority following the accident that happened Tuesday is caring for our team members who were affected directly, especially the families of those who were killed and those who were injured," Leonard said.
During the conference, she said before the explosion the company had no knowledge of any issues with equipment nor had they received any complaints from employees about safety concerns.
"This accident is particularly devastating to us because safety is such a strong priority and a strong focus in everything we do," Leonard said.
In the wake of the explosion, a hotline was created for people to call with questions and to report property damage.
When WHAS11 spoke to people in the Clifton neighborhood, many were disappointed that the number lead them to a third party service and not directly to the company.
Leonard said the company is using a third party service because they felt it would make responses more efficient.
"We simply were not staffed to take those calls directly," she said. "I will tell you that we tested that number ourself. I did it personally and it was probably a 20 second message advising them the call would be monitored and then immediately a live person took that phone call," she said.
She said the company did very robust testing and did not find any issues with the line. Leonard did say if there were issues with the line she would check with the third party company running it after the conference.
Leonard said Givaudan takes full responsibility for the explosion and will fully reimburse residents for the damage caused in the community. WHAS11 has found no records of workplace safety concerns outside of the two explosions at the plant; one in 2003 and one on Tuesday.
Leonard said it's too early in this investigation to draw a line between the two explosions.
"You know, until this investigation is complete, I think it's way too early to draw conclusions between the two," she said.
In 2003, the plant was owned and operated by DD Williamson. DD Williamson is still officially the owner of the plant, but Givaudan bought that company in December 2021.
To the people of the Clifton neighborhood, Leonard said Givaudan stands with them.
"We have been in this neighborhood for, as I said, more than 70 years. We love Louisville, we love this community, we are committed to it and again we want to do everything we possibly can, not just to repair property or businesses damage but also to make sure that people recover from this incident," she said.
Givaudan officials plan to meet with Clifton neighbors during a community forum on Monday at 6 p.m. at United Crescent Hill Ministries.
"I mean, we're hurting too. We fully understand the angst that maybe out there in the community and we are committed to addressing that," Leonard said.
Leonard said 55 people worked at the plant, including both office staff and plant workers. She said right now, the company is committed to maintaining their pay and benefits.
You can watch the full press conference on the WHAS11 YouTube page.