Fungus The Focus At Sunman Town Council Meeting Thursday

Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 7:18 AM

By Mike Perleberg @mikedup84

Some Sunman area citizens want the Sunman Town Council to rescind a tax abatement for MGPI of Indiana.

The black fungus baudoinia compniacensis has been visible on buildings in Greendale and Lawrenceburg near the Lawrenceburg distillery for years. Residents in and near Sunman do not wish to see the fungus become a problem in their neighborhood. Photo by Mike Perleberg, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Sunman, Ind.) - Thursday evening’s Sunman Town Council meeting may have a larger audience than usual amid a fear of fungus.

Citizens in the area have concerns about a new whiskey barrel house being set up by MGPI of Indiana at the former Deufol factory on State Road 101 on the south end of town.

Whiskey barrel houses have been known to cause the fungus baudoinia compniacensis to grow on nearby structures, caused by ethanol which evaporates from wood barrels during the whiskey aging process. For decades, the black fungus build-up has been apparent on structures near the MGPI of Indiana distillery in Lawrenceburg and Greendale.

The town council awarded a tax abatement to MGPI last year. Citizens organizing against the barrel house operation have called for that abatement to be withdrawn.

The meeting at Sunman Town Hall will start at 6:30 p.m.

Another meeting dealing more directly with the fungus topic will happen next week. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold a public meeting about MGPI’s air permit request on Thursday, February 28 at 5:30 p.m. at Milan High School.

IDEM has said a public comment period on the permit is open through Monday, March 4.

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