When You Live With the Pigs, You'll Smell Like the Pigs

I moved into the house where I now live in Louisville, Kentucky, 21 years ago. I live close to the airport, which I saw as a convenience. The downside was the planes taking off almost always flew directly over my house. When we were in the yard in the summer, it was ear-shattering. Indoors, you missed some of the dialog from the TV set. And worst of all, as a hub for UPS, planes were leaving every few minutes throughout the night.

What would you do in this situation? Move? Never buy the house to begin with? Suffer silently? I decided to do what was the logical thing to do. I went to the airport authority and demanded it move the airport away from my house. It was a nuisance and a health issue, and I threatened to sue if the airport didn't move or change flight patterns.

Remember the expression, "Buyer beware!" I knew what I was moving into. The price was right, the location was right, so I bought the house.

The first paragraph above is true; the second isn't. How ridiculous is that? But that's exactly what is taking place in at least two neighborhoods here in Louisville. Organizations are facing crises because people moved in next to the "airport" and decided they didn't like the "noise."

Butchertown is an area of Louisville that has slaughtered hogs since the 19th century. Employment at JBS is about 1,300 with an annual payroll of $40 million. Jon Solomon, an attorney, bought a $465,0000 condo two blocks from JBS in 2008 and he wants the plant to change or move. "I was shocked by the foul and consistent stench," he told a reporter. There's not an odor level that would shock me if I lived two blocks from where 100,000 hogs were slaughtered every day. He is taking legal action.

Salomon contends that the plant isn't complying with the law. Last year, JBS was fined for air violations and had to install new equipment. It was required to apply for a modified operating permit after illegally starting expansion of its unloading area.

On the other side of town sits Rubbertown, a string of eight chemical plants that have been in operation since the government built them during World War II. Several plants have been the target of class action suits and two have settled. In one case, the neighborhood sued the plant for being a persistent nuisance with its emissions. The settlement required groundwater improvements, but nothing that changed emission levels. It also included a per capita settlement for all the plaintiffs. Hmm, the settlement paid for the new sewers people were assessed for.

The point is that when there are hungry lawyers feasting at the trough with frustrated community members, bad things often happen to the targets of these actions. It doesn't make them bad companies per se, no more than Solomon's tailpipe emissions make him a villain. Crises can occur to good companies run by good managers. It isn't these companies that are encroaching on residential neighborhoods, but the other way around. The crisis is there anyway. If this shoe fits, you better plan for it, no matter how squeaky clean you may be today. Have a crisis communications plan ready.