Superior Essex (Franklin, Columbia, Brentwood: appointed, HOA, houses)

[sickofsnowychi]

Just wondering if anyone can tell me what the deal is with Superior Essex in Franklin. I have been told that certain neighborhoods are filled with a terrible smell from this factory and it is having a negative impact on parts of Franklin. I had also heard that there are a lot of air quality commissions getting involved, but I haven't heard anything specific in terms of whether or not this will be corrected or how bad it is.

[BirdieBelle]

This is probably the most recent news I can find about the status.
Franklin Smell Baffles State, Residents - Nashville News Story - WSMV Nashville
It is unresolved. If you Google Superior Essex Franklin TN, you will find a few non-subjective sites (petition sites) that do have pretty thorough info.
The city of Franklin and the county have been very slow an quiet in their response to this issue and the creek pollution by the Egyptian Lacquer plant. Probably think it is a federal/EPA issue.
The bottom line is that I would avoid any area near a potential environmental threat.

[Seriousn2010]

The current status of the air and water quality pollution in the downtown Franklin,
Tennessee area is: The state of Tennessee's Dept. of Air Pollution has monitors at two area schools and at least one subdivision. Test results have not been made available to the public yet.
Over 100 local Residents from over a ten mile radius of the Superior Essex plant attended a public hearing on the issue last year to file their complaints with the state. Nothing has been done that has alleviated the large volume of toxic emissions, mainly identified as Phenol, that has caused the foul smell in the residential areas as far east as Forrest Crossing, as far north as Del Rio Pike, as far south as Sullivan Farms subdovision, as far west as the Battle Avenue and Columbia Pike area.
But Superior Essex is not the only guilty party. There are other companies in Williamson county which were fined recently this past spring for more federal environmental violations. Apcom, Egyptian Lacquer, Lasko and another Brentwood company ( sorry I can't remember the name of that one at the moment) were all caught not filing the annual federally mandated Tier II reports, listing the hazardous chemicals they have on site. Hiding hazardous chemicals is not in the interest of anyone...residents or employees. Everyone has a right to know what is in the manurfacturing process next door to them or what they are working with in an industrial setting.
These companies have not shown very much good will toward neighbors except when the newspaper reporters are around, otherwise they have done very little to reduce emissions and contain the foul air that blows randomly (depending on which way the wind blows that day) into backyards, playgrounds of schools and soccer fields, and frequently permeates the downtown business area.
Oddly enough, not everyone is sensitive to the smell. Some children have been reported overcome by the fumes and became ill, some elderly and those with compromised immune systems seem to be affected the most. But no one give a flip about these people who have complained repeatedly over the last four years now.
It is obvious that these companies just don't care and the quality of life of those who complain has been ignored, the problem still exists and is yet to be addressed properly.
The City, especially Mayor Schorer, has done nothing. The Chamber would like for this to just go away, as most in Franklin are very sensitive to anything that might tarnish their image.The State has done very little other than order the air quality monitoring.
Even Alderman Mike Skinner was unable to get an interview with company officials in April,2010 to speak directly to them about the problem when they were in town from Korea for a company convention. He lives in one of the affected areas and has stated on TV he is quite disappointed that no one has helped him and his fellow residents in Polk Place and Heath Place find a solution to the problem.
At one of the meetings last fall, it was determined that Essex had moved some ovens here from their plant in Indiana. These ovens failed to meet Indiana requirements for burning off the phenolic resins that make the odor but for whatever reason, the company moved them to Tennessee where requirements are not as stringent. The company was found to have also changed their formula in the last few years which caused the odor to increase.
Residents have long considered a lawsuit and may very well have to resort to that to get any relief from the unfortunate situation.
The company and the state once talked about raising the air stacks, thus dispersing the pollution higher up in the atmosphere. Unfortunatley, this would not do anything but allow the wind to carry it further down the road...then it would become a problem in Brentwood most likely, since the wind blows predominantly from the south to the north and that lovely community is right in the path of the chemicals should the state ask the company to choose that option.
There have been several very in depth news stories about the ongoing pollution problem in Franklin. Channel 4 and 5 have covered it well. Can't say too much for the Tennessean or the Williamson Herald. The last report I saw on TV was in April, 2010 about how some residents had sucessfully appealed to the County Mayor Rogers Anderson to form a LEPC, Local Emergency Planning Committee, which is outlined by Congress for every county to have to address issues such as this one. Too bad it wasn't in place yet when Franklin got hit by the Flood in May. The chemicals that were retained from the Egyptian Lacquer leak into the Scenic Harpeth River and Liberty Creek were all washed down stream...probably ended up somewhere near Ashland City or Kingston Springs!!

The LEPC committee is supposed to help Emergency Personnel come up with suggestions for continual improvement of emergency plans and assist in communicating to the public these ideas with information to the public about volunteering efforts and other related information regarding such events, like floods, natural disasters, chemical spills, etc...

Franklin is supposed to be soooooooooo on top of everything. But in this case they are really trying to sweep this one under the rug.
Their image seems to be more important than the health and welfare of all their citizens. Shame on you Franklin! "Best Small town in America"?!
Yeah, right.

[GBPackersFan]

Just curious what the current status of this is? I was down in Franklin last week and was in Sullivan Farms for quite a bit of time almost everyday looking at houses. I didn't smell anything while I was there and I talked with several residents, most of whom indicated that they'd never smelled anything. Only 1 person I talked to mentioned smelling something but he said it was only on occasion and it was never that strong.

I'm seriously considering purchasing 1 of several homes in Sullivan Farms and would like to know if folks who live in that area are still experiencing any issues?

[BirdieBelle]

There has not been much new news lately. Here is the chronology on the City of Franklin site:

City of Franklin : Superior Essex

This is a record of communication about the issue from residents of nearby Polk Place.

Polk Place Forum - Superior Essex's Foul Odor - Powered by ForumCo.com - The Forum Company (http://ppca.forumco.com/topic~TOPIC_ID~223.asp - broken link)

Superior Essex is directly across the Mack Hatcher bypass from Sullivan Farms. I have not heard of a massive exodus of residents from that neighborhood or Polk Place, but they are both near Southeast Parkway, which is an industrial area. So you have to weigh that with your decision.

This is the latest news report I could find (from February):

Williamson Herald :: The Voice of America's Greatest County :: Williamson Herald :: The Voice of America's Greatest County

The latest info I can find anywhere is a post from April 2010 on this blog:

Help Stop Toxic Fumes in Franklin, TN

[sickofsnowychi]

We were down there recently and we are still hesitant about Sullivan Farms because we have still been hearing there is an issue and it isn't being resolved. In turn, it is causing problems with resale values, etc. From the sounds of it, a lot of the talk is being downplayed because people in those neighborhoods are really concerned about homes not getting homes sold, or about their values seriously depreciating. But from people we talked to in both areas, there is still an issue, it just depends where you are located and which way the wind is blowing. After reading the effects that the fumes can have on kids and adults, it just really scares me.

[GBPackersFan]

We had been looking in that area for a while and didn't smell anything for the entire week we were down there looking. We ended up with 4 houses that we really liked in Sullivan Farms. It is, without a doubt, our favorite neighborhood in that area. We were considering offering on the houses but this issue was still lingering in the back of my head so I ended up calling Tennessee Department of Environmental Controls - Air Quality division. I talked with them at length regarding the status of the issue. What I was told is that there are still active complaints about the smell (92 complaints in 2010, mostly from Sullivan Farms, and he was entering 2 more into the system at the time of my call). They informed me that they had been actively working with Superior Essex and that many preventive measures, etc, had already been taken to reduce the emissions of the 2 substances causing the odor nuisance. Additionally, they did extensive testing both on-site, in the SE exhaust stacks, and at Sullivan Farms entrance, Winstead, & Moore elementary to collect data on the level of emissions and the potential environmental impact. He was unable to give me the results of that study because it is currently being reviewed by the US EPA in Atlanta and will not be released for several months.

I also spoke with the Sullivan Farms HOA president who informed me that it was still a nuisance issue for some residents, primarily those on streets that directly border Mack Hatcher or for houses that are right off of Donelson Creek Parkway, the main drag through SF. He said that he, personally, had never smelled anything and that many of the residents he had spoken with had not smelled anything either. He indicated that he would have no hesitations about buying another home in Sullivan Farms, but would be proactive in talking with the neighbors to see if the smell was a nuisance in that particular area before buying.

It seemed to me that, a majority of the complaints may be repeated complaints coming from the same areas or even the same people, and that the smell may bother some more than others. However, we decided that, even as much as we liked the houses we had selected in Sullivan Farms, we just couldn't take the risk of moving our family in there and exposing us to potential health issues or declining property values, in the event that the EPA Report reveals anything negative or if the issue worsens. Granted, it will very likely turn out to be nothing more than an odor nuisance that will eventually be addressed completely, but I just couldn't bring myself to take a chance on it.

[BirdieBelle]

This article discusses the status of the Superior Essex controversy:

Franklin's Superior Essex plant focus of public meeting Monday | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

[septimus]

I was over there this morning and the smell was over-bearing. I made me concerned.

[Anony-Momma]

Never mind. I found it. I sent the link to myself in an e-mail. Not sure why it did not come up on a search.