Ford’s Kentucky Battery Plant Has a Mold Problem

Ford's BlueOval SK Battery Park, under construction in Kentucky, appears to have a major mold problem that is making workers sick....
Ford’s Kentucky Battery Plant Has a Mold Problem
Written by Matt Milano
  • Ford’s BlueOval SK Battery Park, under construction in Kentucky, appears to have a major mold problem that is making workers sick.

    Ford is investing billions to build a battery plant in Kentucky, in partnership with South Korean company SK On. Unfortunately, it appears things are not going smoothly with construction, with reports of toxic mold making workers sick.

    According to Labor Notes, workers have reported streaks of black mold on the boxes shipped from overseas, containing the battery-manufacturing equipment. Workers have repeatedly raised the alarm, but their concerns appear to be falling on deaf ears.

    “Three nights ago, I couldn’t get air in my lungs,” Jason Shaffer told Labor Notes, after his crew installing electrical wiring above an area where workers were breaking down the wooden crates. “I was seeing fireflies, coughing up chunks like white leather all night, crawling across the floor.”

    To make matters worse, the terms of many of the workers’ contracts don’t provide for sick pay.

    “We don’t get sick pay,” said James “Lucky” Dugan, a workmate of Shaffer’s. “You’re sick, you’re out of luck.”

    Unfortunately, given the number of boxes that have already been brought to the new facility, it may be too late to get a handle on the situation.

    “Roughly 1,500 out of 12,000 seaworthy metal containers are on-site as of now. It may not be possible to stop this contamination from happening considering the many years of planning taken to begin the construction of the battery plant,” inspectors wrote in a report.

    In the meantime, workers told Labor Notes they have volunteered for layoffs and will be looking for new jobs, ones that don’t put their health at risk.

    “We’re all scared because we know we could be carrying mold on our clothes back to our families, exposing the community,” said Dugan. “This is corporate America walking all over us.”

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit