PLAYING
WITH FIRE
most people living near the plant,
the only concern through the
years was the smell of ammonia,
which would periodically cause
a nuisance if there were leaks in
containers. Records from the Commission on Environmental Quality show several odor complaints
dating back to the 1970s. But most
said the smell only caused problems every few years.
Residents were comfortable living next to the plant because it was
such a cornerstone of the community, run by locals who went to
the same churches, shopped in the
same stores and sent their children
to the same schools.
“It’s not like some corporation
came in here and built a facility,”
said Sykora. “It’s always been
our neighbor.”
Ted Uptmore, who has managed
the plant since 1964, also owns the
West Auction, a livestock business
in town. Donald Adair, a longtime
area farmer who bought the fertilizer plant in 2004, has served on
the school board and is widely respected by town leaders.
Some in West recalled that
Adair, who was already getting
older, bought the plant in 2004
because it was rumored to shut
down. Adair didn’t want the town
HUFFINGTON
04.28.13
to be without such a crucial business, said Rejcek.
“I told him, ‘Somebody your age
should be selling stuff, not buying
stuff,’” Rejcek recalled. “He said,
‘I’m not doing this for myself.’”
Even in the wake of a disaster
that touched almost everyone in
West, many residents who were
interviewed harbored no ill will
toward the plant owners.
“These are good people, and I
feel so sorry for Mr. Adair,” said
Jeanette Karlik, the local newspaper columnist, who grew up in
West and returned to take care
of her ailing mother in the late
1990s. “I know his heart is heavy
because of what happened.”
As investigators focus on pinpointing the cause of the accident, and whether there was any
negligence, many locals stand in
support of the plant owners.
“I don’t question it. There is
no way that there was a problem
there where they knew something
was going to happen,” said Sykora.
“That’s not the people they are.
They are good Church of Christ
people. If [Adair] had an inkling, he
would have shut that thing down.”
‘WILLFULLY OFF THE GRID’
Among the at least seven state
and federal regulatory agencies
under whose purview the West
Fertilizer plant fell, none appears