Question for you chemist/chemically inclined

[Bigtanker]

When I mentioned this to my wife who is from KY and saw the same tanks in Bardstown, she mentioned that a few years ago the residents of Smithfield, KY had run off the distillers who wanted to put a couple of tanks in their area. They cited the black gunk that got onto everything. Here's an article about Shively, KY with some interesting pics of black fungus on cars, signs, everywhere it seems, not just on the tanks. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/78dyqb/kentuckys-whiskey-fungus-problem-is-out-of-control

That's very interesting too.

 

[Tactically Fat]

It's covering the Jack Daniel's distillery and surrounding town.

They pay for all the buildings to be power washed every few years.

 

[Cameramonkey]

You could see the flames coming out of the burn-off stacks for quite a ways too.

I grew up just north of 86th about 3/4 mile into Hendricks county. You could indeed see the glow for a while. One night I was playing outside as a teen and noticed the glow was a LOT brighter. Turns out it was a guy out toward New Castle that struck a 36" gas pipeline with his backhoe, touching off a raging inferno. (They never found his body, and the largest part of his machine was about the size of a shoe box)

When I mentioned this to my wife who is from KY and saw the same tanks in Bardstown, she mentioned that a few years ago the residents of Smithfield, KY had run off the distillers who wanted to put a couple of tanks in their area. They cited the black gunk that got onto everything. Here's an article about Shively, KY with some interesting pics of black fungus on cars, signs, everywhere it seems, not just on the tanks. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/78dyqb/kentuckys-whiskey-fungus-problem-is-out-of-control

It's covering the Jack Daniel's distillery and surrounding town.

They pay for all the buildings to be power washed every few years.

That could explain why I noticed some of the highway exit signs along 65s look dingy just south of Louisville. They look like they are covered with a dingy dirt like they had dirty salted snow splashed on them.

 

[Bigtanker]

Here is a picture of it up close. The clean mark is a recent finger swipe.

 

[eldirector]

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/78dyqb/kentuckys-whiskey-fungus-problem-is-out-of-control

 

[PistolBob]

They ought to store bourbon in those tanks. Never saw good booze do that.

 

[Mr. Habib]

You've never been to a distillery, have you? Every rick house in Kentucky has that stuff growing on it.

 

[Gaffer]

At least I was correct in not eating it! Weird that things grow on gasoline, everything I put it on dies, sometimes running and screaming wildly?

I assume after you light it?

 

[rem788]

My dad was a welder at Rock Island Refinery for 15 years. I worked there one week during "clean out" during spring break when I was in college. I am not sure what they produced other than gas and the smell was distinct. the best thing was my brother and I could stop at the guard house and get a key for a gas pump. We could fill our cars up and charge it to my dad. He finally put a stop to it when we started filling up friends cars too.