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The crash of UPS Flight 2976 will be one of those nights where most everyone in our community will remember exactly where they were when they heard the unsettling news.
Brad Hart can recount the first few minutes.
“I was running an errand before I went home after leaving the office, and I looked up to the north and saw a huge column of smoke that I knew was not normal. I knew it was not just a house or a building. I knew it was something bigger.”
As Louisville Water’s Director of Safety, Security, & Risk, Hart immediately called Director of Distribution Operations Joe Schmitt to better understand the situation.
“I asked, ‘Are you seeing this plume?’. I remember taking a picture and sending it to him. The picture had a time stamp of 5:20.”
Firefighters from departments all over Jefferson County raced to the scene. Battling roughly 40,000 gallons of jet fuel and chemicals from a recycling plant hit by the plane, Louisville Fire & Rescue’s chief quickly texted Louisville Water President Spencer Bruce about boosting the water supply.
“Our first response is fire protection. We did some things at the (water) treatment plant to try to increase flow and pressure into that area,” Bruce said.
The water quality team worked to balance the increased supply to meet firefighters’ needs without disrupting the service to our customers who rely on Louisville Pure Tap®.
Widespread cellular network issues created some challenges around the city. While Hart, Schmitt, and others on their teams managed through those, they started coordinating a plan to protect Louisville Water employees. The UPS Worldport hub is not far from Louisville Water’s distribution facility on Allmond Avenue. With a shelter-in-place order in effect, safety was paramount.
Hart, Schmitt, and members of Louisville Water’s water quality department worked late into the night to prepare for the next few days. As the smoke cleared and the sun rose Wednesday morning, the shelter-in-place order lifted for the area around Allmond Avenue.
When Louisville Metro Emergency Services asked for a representative from Louisville Water be on site for coordination, Hart made his way to the Mobile Emergency Operations Center near the crash’s impact zone. Schmitt met him there to begin inspecting water mains, pipes, and fire hydrants.
“Greg Armenta (distribution operations manager) and I did an assessment of the area with a firefighter escort. All our fire hydrants remained intact. Some valves remain accessible, but several are covered with debris,” Schmitt explained.
Fortunately, there was no visible damage to the network of pipes underground in that area.
“Walking through the impact zone to assess the water infrastructure was a sobering experience,” Schmitt shared. “Seeing the scale of destruction firsthand was a stark reminder of how quickly disaster can strike and how deeply it can affect a community.”
With oil, fuel, unknown chemicals, and debris covering the ground, Louisville Water’s water quality specialists started collecting water samples.
“Our water quality professionals were completing multiple rounds of tests. We are in the business of public health, and it is something we take very seriously,” Hart said.
Louisville Water worked with the Kentucky Division of Water to issue a Consumer Advisory Notice for approximately 50 customers in the impact zone, a largely commercial area.
Cross Connection Specialist Lauren Smith was part of the group contacting customers.
“The biggest thing (for me) was to be compassionate and understanding of their situation, and to let them know of the advisory without causing additional panic. Depending on when they can get in, I wanted to be ahead with the advisory of them being allowed to go back in (to their business),” Smith said.
It’s been a valiant effort to track down the customers included in the advisory.
“We’ve reached most of them using Customer Care & Billing (database), our water quality contacts, Google searches for businesses; we kind of did every angle that we could think of to try to get a good phone number,” Smith explained.
For those in the trenches in the days that followed the crash, no stone was left unturned to ensure Louisville Water could continue providing high-quality drinking water to nearly a million people every day.
“Our customers are why we’re here,” Smith said.
Trudging through the devastation, Schmitt walked away with pieces of optimism.
“Amid all the damage, I couldn’t help but feel proud to be part of a team that provides such a critical service by ensuring dependable fire protection and reliable hydrants that support our firefighters.”
Team is the key word and the common theme emphasized by every employee on the front lines of the impact zone.
“This event has required tons of coordination and been an amazing example of subject matter experts collaborating, owning their lanes, and executing efficiently,” said one member of the water quality team.
A sentiment Hart strongly echoed.
“I’ve been in several of these emergency response situations. Our employees step up; our people are the best of the best at what they do. They always find a way to make it happen no matter the environment, no matter the circumstance. They understand that their job is extremely important and they get it done.”
Louisville Water shares in the grief our community is feeling. We support our UPS family, our employees, the heroic efforts of all the emergency responders, and everyone touched by this tragedy.
