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We are not the only ones who enjoy a good bourbon

Unread postPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:43 pm
by Devil'sCut
Air district links emissions to fungus on neighboring homes: Louisville Air district cites liquor company over whiskey fungus on homes. The owner of a Louisville liquor warehouse is being threatened with $10,000-a-day fines unless it stops polluting the neighborhood with whiskey vapors that have been linked to a fungus covering people’s homes and property with black spots.


The offending culprit is Baudoinia Compniacensis, a naturally occurring mold, it is normally slow growing and eclipsed by other faster producing molds.
• When introduced to ethanol-rich environments, such as that surrounding a whiskey-aging warehouse, it becomes uncharacteristically fast growing, resilient and adaptive to many environments.
• Baudoinia uses the ethanol as a carbon source, stimulating rapid growth.
• Mature colonies of the whiskey fungus are crust-like and scorched in appearance.
• The pronounced blackening from whiskey fungus often extends a considerable distance from the ethanol emission source and indiscriminately colonizes on exposed surfaces.
Source: Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District.


The problem:
2009 ethanol emissions
• Diageo: 1,615 tons
• Heaven Hill: 1,378 tons
• Brown-Forman: 1,336 tons
Source: Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District.


Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120911/GREEN/309110084/Louisville-Air-district-cites-liquor-company-over-whiskey-fungus-homes

The LMAPCD knows of several mrthods to eleminate the problem, but are hesatent to tell those affected what they might do as it does not want to mandate the fix. Several California wineries and distillers have met the much more strict California standards, so a fix is possible.

The affected Louisville warehouses are: Heaven Hill on Breckinridge Street, Diageo on Miller's Land and Fitzgerald Road and Brown-Forman on Dixie Highway.