Monday Is Deadline For Citizen Comments On Controversial Sunman Barrel House

The public comment period on MGPI of Indiana's air permit request closes at the end of the day March 4.

Whiskey produced at the MGPI of Indiana distillery in Lawrenceburg and Greendale could soon be transported to Sunman where it will age for years in wooden barrels. File photo.

(Sunman, Ind.) – Monday is the final day for citizens to comment on an air permit needed for MGPI of Indiana to establish a whiskey barrel house in Sunman.

The company which owns the large distillery a half-hour's drive away in Lawrenceburg and Greendale wants to store up to 320,000 whiskey barrels in two Sunman warehouses it purchased from Deufol last year.

The matter has garnered a lot of opposition from property and business owners in Sunman who worry about a black fungus coating their homes and crops. The so-called “whiskey fungus” Baudoinia compniacensis is caused by ethanol vapors which come from whiskey barrels saturated by the liquor during the aging process.

Written comments on the air permit (PDF) must be submitted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management or postmarked by Monday, March 4. Comments can be sent by email, fax, or U.S. mail. Each correspondence should refer to permit number M137-40667-00051.

• Email: tuher@idem.in.gov
• Mail: Thomas Uher, IDEM Office of Air Quality, 100 North Senate Avenue, MC 61-53 IGCN 1003, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
• Fax: (317) 232-6749 attn: Thomas Uher.

Those comments will be considered by IDEM in deciding whether to grant the air permit and requesting more information from the company.

At a meeting last week, IDEM officials told citizens that the agency cannot regulate ethanol vapors because the contaminant is classified as a fugitive emission and is not included in the agency’s rules.

IDEM indicated that a decision on granting the permit could be weeks or months after the March 4 public comment deadline.

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