By MARK MCGEE
With a plant here in Shelbyville scheduled to open sometime this summer Duksan Electera has been at the center of the local news for several weeks now.
There was a brief safety summit attended by Seung Hoon Nam, strategic planning team director, for Duksan Technopia. Ltd.; JinKang Yim, Duksan vice president and Moonil Cheon, Duksan Electera America Inc., Manager-Marketing.
At the June regular meeting of the Shelbyville City Council it was unanimously agreed to ask the State Fire Marshal’s office to review Duksan from a safety standpoint. The state said it saw no reason for an additional review but would conduct an inspection at a cost of $50,000 to $65,000.
The council members stated Duksan would be asked to pay the costs of the review. If Duksan refuses the City will ask the county to pay half.
Through all of this Duksan has remained silent publicly, but Cheon has released an official response.
“We have met with Shelbyville city officials to clarify their concerns regarding our fire protection system and safety protocols,” Cheon said. “We will continue to work with them to address and resolve these issues.
“As recently as last week, we were able to have a very productive meeting with representatives from the city and the fire marshal’s office at our facility in Shelbyville. In an effort to further reassure the city, we will be hosting an on-site process presentation this week where they will be able to tour our facility and to learn more about our production and safety processes.”
Several issues were presented to the State Fire Marshal’s office by Shelbyville Fire Chief Matt Doak on behalf of the City. Cheon has chosen to address the issues one by one.
- Fire Suppression System and Trailers: “We are committed to ensuring the safety of our employees, our facility and our neighbors in the community. Our trailers will fit safely into the loading docks at our facility, and we are actively working with our local fire department to ensure our fire suppression system will sufficiently protect our workers and any fire responders.”
- Stamped Engineering Plans: “We addressed this concern with the representatives from the City during our meeting last week. This issue is being resolved and updated plans are being submitted as soon as possible.”
- Backflow Device: “During our meeting with the City last week, we were able to address this concern and will be updating our backflow prevention device to meet their inspection standards.”
- Water Pressure: “We are actively working with the Bedford County Utility District (BCUD) to resolve this issue. We are also exploring the possibility of installing a storage tank on site that will more than sufficiently satisfy any water supply needs and lessen our reliance on local utilities.”
- Onsite “fire brigade: “We are actively working with local first responders to develop a robust preparedness plan that is specific to our facility here in Shelbyville. That plan reflects Duksan’s commitment to safety and was crafted in collaboration with local stakeholders, including our neighbors at 231 North Business Park. We look forward to sharing it with Chief Doak in detail later this month.
“Once fully operational, we expect to employ over 125 workers, which is more than the 101 we initially projected. Throughout the scaling of our operations, our onsite response team and the number of safety personnel will be able to adequately ensure the safety of our employees, our business neighbors and our community.”
