Rubbertown Emergency ACTion - REACT

08/25/2026

JOIN US for the Zeon Chemicals Hearing Tuesday, August 25th at 5pm at 701 W. Ormsby.

SITES OF INTEREST: Sankofa Sanctuary (Chickasaw Park), Kennedy Elementary School, Carter Elementary, Southwick Community Center, Park DuValle Community Health Center, The Villages of Park DuValle and all of the homes in between.

Most of these sites are less than a mile from Zeon Chemicals.

From schools, to parks to a health center and all of the homes in between, people could be at risk of being impacted by INCREASED emissions.

08/21/2026

We previously posted a video of fire and embers shooting out of the stack at Anderson Wood back in 2023.

This video is recent. While it does not show fire shooting from the stack, it does show embers, which we all know are not a good sign in this setting.

Take a look.

https://youtu.be/-NeH33qLo44?si=24PL-LbxqnpBNbsZ

This video shows embers coming out of the stack at Anderson Wood, a...

08/20/2026

JOIN US in packing this hearing. If this company is reclassified, they would be subject to weaker rules, which could lead to more toxic emissions.

This chemical facility is too close to our neighborhoods and special places, where we raise our families. It is also close to schools and places where people work like, Kennedy Elementary, Carter Elementary and others.

Not only could Chickasaw, Park DuValle, Algonquin and many others be in the path of the potential increases, this change would keep this company from having to monitor their emissions.

Please attend.

08/05/2026

"So nobody was notified that there was a fire."
- Parkland Resident impacted by Anderson Wood

To view the interview in its entirety, click on the link below.

To view this interview in its entirety, click on the link below.h...

07/28/2026

TERRIFYING footage of Anderson Wood from 2023.
You may ask why we are posting this now in 2026. Well, that is because we must understand the history of how industries operate within our community. They help to tell the story of the various ways in which workers, residents and passersby are impacted.
We have conducted several walkarounds in which folks from other communities have all but said, "Nothing to see here."
Yes. It looks benign on most days until you come upon it on the wrong day. THIS was a wrong day.
Listen to the video and let us know if and how Anderson Wood has impacted you, your friends or the people you love.

07/28/2026

TERRIFYING footage of Anderson Wood from 2023.

You may ask why we are posting this now in 2026. Well, that is because we must understand the history of how industries operate within our community. They help to tell the story of the various ways in which workers, residents and passersby are impacted.

We have conducted several walkarounds in which folks from other communities have all but said, "Nothing to see here."

Yes. It looks benign on most days until you come upon it on the wrong day. THIS was a wrong day.

Listen to the video and let us know if and how Anderson Wood has impacted you, your friends or the people you love.

07/17/2026

This morning, there was a shelter-in-place order put into place because of a hazardous materials incident that looks to have occurred at Chemours Louisville Works chemical facility.

A LENS Alert was sent via text to those who signed up for alerts (We suspect that a good number of people have not signed up). We don't believe their message, which did not include a link to instructions on how to shelter, was sufficient.

Although the news reported it, the instructions were lacking there as well.

REACT is no authority on sheltering in place but we believe the instructions on the FEMA and RCAC websites seem more protective in the event of a chemical incident.

The links to both web sites are below.

FEMA
https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_shelter-in-place_guidance.pdf

RCAC
https://www.rubbertowncac.org/emergency

07/01/2026

Emergency Preparedness Cohort Session 6 took place last Saturday! This was the last session for this pilot project.

It was all about documents, updating our scrum boards from past sessions and organizing materials from Sessions 1 - 5. We had a printer on site so folks could make copies of important documents and save copies onto usb drives.

We tested out the walkie talkies (one of the giveaways from our comms session). There was one walkie talkie at the church on 15th and Muhammad Ali as one person drove to 16th & Broadway and back around.

Although we began to experience static, that didn't happen until about 16th & Broadway. Someone said that was about half a mile. That's definitely good enough to check on neighbors or for two people who need to communicate while working on different parts of a property.

INVENTOR OF THE SESSION

Henry Brown - Inventor of a receptacle for storing and preserving papers.

We had an impromptu evaluation of the cohort sessions that will inform how we move forward with this work. We decided that we would not end the sessions here. Folks expressed a desire to stay in touch and continue to learn together.

THANK YOU to all of the participants who hung in there with us for the last 3 months!

Stay tuned for a thank you post to all of the individuals and organizations who contributed to the success of this pilot project.

With the help of our first cohort, we look forward to finding a way to improve and scale this up so that more people have an opportunity to learn together.

06/28/2026

Session 5 of the Emergency Preparedness Cohort was all about First Aid. It took place on June 13th.

The first hour included a presentation from Kiara of Stop The Bleed and some hands on practice. The second hour we were joined by Abby Bailey from the Norton Children's Hospital Pediatric Pandemic Network.

INVENTORS OF THE SESSION

Charles Drew -His extensive work with blood and plasma combined with his innovative approach to reducing contamination, laid the foundation for modern standards in safety & efficiency. He is a pioneer in modern blood banking and 20th-century medicine, revolutionized blood donation and storage processes, fundamentally shaping the field as we know it today.

Percy Lavon Julian - He developed a new synthesis for. substance called Substance S. From this substance he was able to synthesize both cortisone and hydrocortisone. His work made it possible for both to be inexpensively manufactured.

06/27/2026

Session 4 of the Emergency Preparedness Cohort took place on May 30th. The topic was communications.

Our first guest walked us through the various types of radios and when they might be used. During the second hour, we learned from two women who utilize radios as part of their mutual aid group in the Portland neighborhood.

A lot of the information was new to the cohort so as you can imagine, there were lots of questions and note taking.

INVENTORS OF THE SESSION:

Granville Woods - Inventor of Railway Telegraphy

Shirley Ann Jackson - Her telecommunications research helped pave the way for technologies that support touch-tone telephones, caller-ID, fiber optics and other communication innovations.

Jess E. Russell - He holds numerous patents, including Base Station for Mobile Radio Telecommunications Systems, Mobile Data Telephone and Wireless Communication Base Station. In 1988, he led the team from Bell Laboratories that introduced the first digital cellular technology in the U.S.

One of our young participants brought smiles to our faces with his collection of Worry Warts.