Records obtained by the Daily News have revealed new details about the investigations leading to Henkel’s identification as the source of suds appearing at Lost River Cave this summer.

Since August, the Kentucky Division of Water has found Henkel in violation of its stormwater permit on three separate instances – Aug. 15, Aug. 22 and Sept. 22, 2022.

While a July and early August Henkel inspection conducted by the Kentucky Division of Water (DOW) came up empty, the facility’s record of compliance didn’t last long.

On Aug. 15, DOW regional field officers Bruce Hatcher and Michael Horn found out that Henkel had not reported an Aug. 13 spill to the proper environmental agencies.

A computer programming issue led to a malfunction in the re-circulation system between two of Henkel’s tanks, which caused one of the tanks to overflow, releasing an estimated 10,000 pounds (about 1,250 gallons) of Armosoft DEQ onto a roof, down a pipe to the pavement, into a gravel and grassy area bordering train tracks, and finally into a dropbox where the liquid solidified in the cooler temperature.

Armosoft DEQ is used in liquid fabric softener, according to the wastewater inspection report.

Henkel officials called Bowling Green Municipal Utilities and professional spill cleaning company TPM about the incident, but did not report it to the DOW or the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

On Aug. 22, Hatcher and Horn returned to the Henkel facility. The plant manager told them that on Aug. 19, the facility had another release of non-stormwater discharges. This time, the source was Henkel’s Liquids 2 area, where three sumps, underground tanks where liquid collects to avoid leaks or runoff, had cracks.

This allowed harmful materials to escape undetected. After discovering the problem, Henkel covered the sumps with tarps and separated them from other areas of the facility until repairs could be made. The DOW’s wastewater inspection cited this violation as inadequate operation and maintenance of the Liquids Room 2.

The DOW also conducted blue dye tracing during its Aug. 22 inspection. Hatcher and Horn sampled a retention basin at the northeastern part of Henkel’s property, and found that the basin flowed to State Trooper Cave, then Lost River Blue Hole #1 and finally Lost River Below Entrance Dam by tracking the dye at various points downstream.

Finally, between Sept. 20 and Sept. 22, a Henkel railcar leaked between 150 and 200 gallons of citric acid, between the time that the railcar was moved into an offload position to when Henkel employees discovered the leak. This time, the correct agencies were contacted immediately.

After all of these incidents, in addition to the City of Bowling Green’s notices of violation, Henkel created a corrective action plan, which was sent to the DOW on Sept. 30.

The corrective action plan includes:

• inspecting all floor trenches and sumps by Nov. 11, 2022;
• updating the facility’s Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures Plan by Nov. 30, 2022;
• updating employee training and requiring it for onboarding once the facility’s plans are updated by Dec. 31, 2022;
• completing preventative maintenance on floor trenches and sumps in the Liquids 2 Room by Jan. 31, 2023;
• and completing preventative maintenance on other floor trenches and sumps by a target date of March 31, 2023.

In Henkel’s corrective action plan email to the DOW, Bowling Green Operations Vice President Patrick Mullen said that Henkel takes the notices of violations seriously and is doing all it can to fix the issues.

“Henkel strives to be a steward of the environment and work to achieve compliance with all applicable environmental regulations,” Mullen said.