City and Carbide Officials to Meet With Rubbertown Residents

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer will meet with residents of the Rubbertown neighborhood this (Monday) evening.The meeting comes a week after an explosion and fire at the Carbide Industries plant that killed two workers and closed streets in the area for hours.Residents have criticized the response to the accident. The plant's owner did not update a phone line established to warn the neighborhood of any threats or chemical leaks. Further, emergency responders were not immediately using the same radio channel. Communication between fire departments and police was scattered when crews first arrived no the scene.Mayor's spokesperson Chris Poynter says all of the involved parties will be on hand to talk with residents at Monday's meeting."The plant manager will be there. The director of MetroSafe, the police chief, people from Lake Dreamland, the mayor, health department. We'll look at what happened that day, what failures occurred and how we plan to improve that," he says.The mayor has already announced plans to purchase a system that will give residents faster updates about industrial accidents. The city has also taken over the Rubbertown phone hotline.The meeting is at 7 pm at Southwick Community Center.