Jerome Flusche is concerned that Whirlpool Corp. is trying to leave Fort Smith without cleaning up chemicals that may remain in the ground near the company’s large manufacturing facility.
In June, Whirlpool closed its refrigeration production plant in Fort Smith. The move resulted in about 1,000 lost jobs when the plant closed. However, Whirlpool, which employed more than 4,500 at the Fort Smith plant in 2006, moved production out of the plant for several years prior to the closing.
According to Flusche, a Realtor with Kralicek & Flusche in Fort Smith, Whirlpool is in the process of asking the city of Fort Smith to approve an ordinance banning groundwater well use on property near the company’s idle Fort Smith plant. Flusche said the real estate company owns property in the area Whirlpool has included in the request.
Robert Jones III, an attorney with the Fayetteville office of Tulsa-based law firm of Conners & Winters, conducted a Thursday (Jan. 10) meeting with potentially affected property owners. Jones, who represents Whirlpool, followed the meeting with a Friday e-mail saying the company would delay its push for the ordinance. Click here to read the full story from our partners at TheCityWire.com.
