Louisville residents sue Heaven Hill, other distillers over black, sooty mold

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Thursday, May 31, 2012, 12:14 a.m. — The Kentucky Bourbon industry is again defending itself from a lawsuit related to the alcohol-fed sooty, black mold that grows on houses, cars and trees in areas near whiskey distilleries.

An Associated Press story published on Kentucky.com reports that a group of Louisville residents has filed a lawsuit against three distillers — including Bardstown-based Heaven Hill Distilleries — claiming the ethanol from their operations has caused the mold to grow on their homes and cars.

The lawsuit is similar to one filed several years ago in Nelson County by residents of Bardstown who complained about the mold in the neighborhoods near the Tom Moore (formerly known as Barton’s) Distillery. That lawsuit was settled out of court in 2010, with property owners receiving cash settlements of about $1,600 each.

In addition to Heaven Hill, the suit names Diageo America’s Supply and Brown-Forman as defendants. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, May 30, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Louisville, seeks class-action status and unspecified compensation to property owners for damages.

Louisville attorney William McMurry filed the lawsuit, telling the AP the existence of the fungus — Baudoinia Compniacensis — on his clients homes can only be attributed to the distillery industry. The fungus is fed by the alcohol that evaporates from aging bourbon; the phenomenon is known in the industry as “the angel’s share.”

Speaking on behalf of all three companies, Heaven Hill spokesman Larry Kass told the AP the companies do not believe their operations have harmed the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and plan to contest the claims.

Heaven Hill’s Bardstown distillery operation was destroyed in the 1996 blaze that also destroyed several of its warehouses and consumed 90,000 barrels of aging whiskey.

Without its own distillery, the company contracted other distilleries for its distilling needs. In 1999, Heaven Hil purchased the Bernheim Distillery in downtown Louisville from Diageo and restarted its own distilling operation.

Editor’s note: A lawsuit tells only one side of a story.

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