THORNS & ROSES

THE WORST, BEST & MOST ABSURD

ABSURD: LMPD MEETS THE RAW DOGGER

As if LMPD needs more fodder to make themselves ridiculous, it seems at Thunder Over Louisville this weekend, a few o cers posed for a pic with a young Thunder attendee wearing a hoodie that said, “Professional Rawdogger.” Apparently, it’s a thing, and not just something Nick Cannon does.

ROSE: SECRETARIAT’S WIN TURNS 50

This Derby Favorite clocked the fastest Kentucky Derby in history, and now this monumental race turns 50. There are exhibits at the Kentucky Derby Museum and a lot of folks telling their Secretariat stories. We have one in the book this week from sports writer Tim Sullivan.

Also absurd but fun fact: LEO’s Editor also turns 50 this year, and each member of her family (parents and sibling) was born on a Triple Crown Year.

THORN: ANOTHER WEEK OF INACTION

Two weeks have passed since we lost the lives of six Louisvillians in a mass shooting. Nothing has changed, of course and the weapons that make so many mass killings easy are still readily available for purchase. So this thorn, is a permanent marker until something changes and America stops being a killing eld.

THORN: FIRE AT NATURAL BRIDGE

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission.

THE ADMINISTRATOR of the Environmental Protection Agency recently used the smokestacks of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” as the backdrop to announce new rules aimed at reducing harmful, toxic emissions from chemical and plastics plants across the country.

“For generations, our most vulnerable communities have unjustly borne the burden of breathing unsafe, polluted air,” Michael S. Regan, the nation’s top environmental regulator, said from behind a podium bearing the EPA seal, with grazing cows and one of the region’s ubiquitous chemical plants in the distance behind him.

Manufacturing facilities potentially subject to the new emissions controls, from New York to Oregon, are concentrated along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Texas, with clusters in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. They often emit chemical byproducts that have been linked to cancer and other health risks and disproportionately impact communities of color and low-income white neighborhoods.

Kentucky has the fourth-largest number of facilities that potentially fall under the proposed regulations, at 10, according to data from EPA and the environmental group Fracktracker. That includes four plants in Louisville’s Rubbertown area: Zeon Chemicals, Chemours, American Synthetic Rubber and Hexion. Other potential plants covered by the regulations include Westlake Vinyls in Marshall County, Dow Chemical in Carroll County and Marathon in Boyd County.

Neither the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District nor the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet had an immediate substantive response to the EPA proposal. Energy cabinet

125 acres of land at the Natural Bridge have burned. The cause of the re is still under investigation, and while Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says the re is contained, it still is a bummer when we lose natural beauty to re. The trails, cottages and parking adjacent to the area will remain closed pending a review by the park sta .

THORN: HIRING ‘KILLER’ COPS spokesman John Mura said state officials were reviewing the proposal and declined further comment.

Protesters in Carroll County are carrying signs in Carroll County. According to the Courier Journal, one sign read: “No Knock Killer Kop.” They are protesting the fact that Carroll County Sheri ’s Department has hired former LMPD o ce Myles Cosgrove. Cosgove’s red the shot that killed Breonna Taylor. Despite him being red from LMPD in January of 2021, Carroll County claimed the fact that Cosgrove had not been charged in her death made him eligible for hire and that he passed their background checks.

“It’s kind of big. We’re looking at it and trying to figure out what it means,” Matt Mudd, spokesman for the Louisville agency, said on April 7 of the EPA proposal.

These plants are already subject to what the EPA considers to be “maximum achievable control standards” to limit pollution.

But the proposed rules announced earlier this month will require additional pollution control measures to counter continuing health risks those communities still face despite existing pollution controls. The new rules also reflect more current research findings on health risks from some chemicals, like the carcinogen ethylene oxide.

It has been nearly two decades since the rules were last updated, so action was long overdue, environmental advocates said.

Neither the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District nor the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet had an immediate substantive response to the EPA proposal. Energy cabinet spokesman John Mura said state officials were reviewing the proposal and declined further comment.

“It’s kind of big. We’re looking at it and trying to figure out what it means,” Matt Mudd, spokesman for the Louisville agency, said on April 7 of the EPA proposal.

These plants are already subject to what the EPA considers to be “maximum achievable control standards” to limit pollution. But the proposed rules announced earlier this month will require additional pollution control measures to counter continuing health risks those communities still face despite existing pollution controls. The new rules also reflect more current research find- ings on health risks from some chemicals, like the carcinogen ethylene oxide. It has been nearly two decades since the rules were last updated, so action was long overdue, environmental advocates said.

• ethylene oxide, a flammable gas used in manufacturing other chemicals that go into making a range of products, including antifreeze, textiles, plastics, detergents and adhesives.

• chloroprene, a liquid used in the production of neoprene at the Denka plant in La Place, Louisiana. Neoprene is found in wetsuits, gaskets, hoses and adhesives. EPA considers it likely to cause cancer in people.

• 1,3 butadiene, a highly flammable gas primarily used to make plastic and rubber products.

• benzene, a highly flammable liquid used to make other chemicals that go into plastics, resins, nylon, adhesives, sealants and synthetic fibers. It’s also used to make some types of rubbers, lubricants, dyes, detergents, drugs and pesticides.

• ethylene dichloride, a highly flammable liquid used to make plastic, polyvinyl chloride, resin, other chemicals and in the manufacturing of petroleum and coal products.

• vinyl chloride, a colorless gas usually handled as a liquid under pressure, used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and vinyl products.

Some of these chemicals, like ethylene oxide and chloroprene, are emitted from a relatively small number of facilities. Others are more widely used.

The EPA inspector general’s office last