A.L. Taylor Valley of the Drums Superfund Site

Welcome to the A.L. Taylor Valley of the Drums Superfund Site Storymap. This Storymap provides a brief history of the Valley of the Drums in Bullitt County, Kentucky, and information about its current condition. In addition, we include information about the surrounding residential, recreational, and industrial areas.

The demographic characteristics of the area are shown for Bullitt County as a whole and for the Census tract in which the Valley of the Drums Site is located (Tract 208).

Approximately 6% of Bullitt County lives in the census tract where the Valley of the Drums is located. Both Bullitt County and the area around the Valley of the Drums are majority white with similar percentages of the population that were born male or female.

Bullitt County and Tract 208 also have nearly identical percentages of their populations that are under 18 years old. The average age of an individual living in Bullitt County is 40 while the average age is 44 in Tract 208. The census tract in which the Valley of the Drums is located has a higher percentage of it's population that either has less than a 9th grade education or has complete some of high school but have never received a diploma. The average household income for Bullitt County is over $11,000 more than the average household income for Tract 208, and the percentage of the population living below the poverty level is more than double that of the county as a whole as are the percent of households receiving food stamps and the unemployment rate.

Approximately 6% of Bullitt County's housing units are located in the same tract as the Valley of the Drums. Of this, over 80% of the units are occupied. The proportion of owner occupied housing units is slightly greater for the county as a whole compared to Tract 208 resulting in Tract 208 having a higher percentage of renter occupied housing units than Bullitt County.

Rent is nearly the same for Tract 208 as it is for the county as whole, however, home values are approximately $30,000 more in Bullitt County as a whole than they are in Tract 208. Cost burdened and rent burdened households are those households in which 30% or more of the household monthly income is spent on rent or mortgage. The percent of cost burdened, owner-occupied households was slightly greater for Tract 208 than for the rest of Bullitt County, while the rate of rent burdened households was significantly less in Tract 208 compared to Bullitt County as a whole.

The data presented here shows disease prevalence for the adult population of Census Tract 208. For Tract 208, 42.6% of the population over the age of 18 have high blood pressure while only 8.4% have coronary heart disease. 13.6% of adults have diabetes. Among those over the age 18, 10.5% have asthma. The prevalence of all cancers except skin cancer for those over the age of 18 in Tract 208 is 7.6%.

The next Five-Year Review for the A. L. Taylor site is due out in September of 2023 and will contain updated information on the site's status. The degree of contamination that remains on the site impacts whether or not the site can be reused. Past reviews have deemed the site too contaminated for immediate reuse. Until the level of contamination falls below predetermined limits, the site will continue to be fenced off and remain undeveloped.

1. Sixth Five-Year Review Report for A.L. Taylor (Valley of the Drums) Superfund Site September 2018.   https://semspub.epa.gov/work/04/11111974.pdf  
2. Fifth Five-Year Review Report for A.L. Taylor (Valley of the Drums) Superfund Site September 2013.   https://semspub.epa.gov/work/04/10945984.pdf  
3. Five-Year Review Final for the A.L. Taylor Site Brooks, Kentucky. June 1992.   https://semspub.epa.gov/work/04/24214.pdf  

1. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV. 2018. Sixth Five-Year Review Report for A. L. Taylor (Valley of the Drums) Superfund Site Brooks, Bullitt County, Kentucky. 
2. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV. 2022. A.L. Taylor (Valley of Drums) Brooks, KY: Cleanup Activities. Retrieved on August 26, 2022, from cumulis.epa.gov.
3. Wilderness Louisville. 2022. Jefferson Memorial Forest. Retrieved on August 24, 2022, from wildernesslouisville.org 
4. Commonwealth of Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. 2022. Jefferson Memorial Forest: Heritage Land.” Retrieved on August 24, 2022, from eec.ky.gov
5. Environmental Protection Agency. 2022. Detailed Facility Report: The Crossing Golf Club. Retrieved on August 26, 2022, from echo.epa.gov.
6. Golf Link. 2022. The Crossings Golf Course, Brooks, KY. Retrieved on August 26, 2022, from golflink.com.
7. Environmental Protection Agency. 2022. Detailed Facility Report: Coral Ridge Springs Subdivision. Retrieved on August 29, 2022, from echo.epa.gov.
8. Environmental Protection Agency. 2022. Construction and Development Effluent Guidelines. Retrieved on August 29, 2022, from epa.gov.
9. D.R. Horton, Inc. 2022. Coral Ridge Springs. Retrieved on August 29, 2022, from drhorton.com
10. Environmental Protection Agency. 2022. Superfund: Five Year Reviews. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from epa.gov.
11. Environmental Protection Agency. 2022. Substance Registry Services. sor.epa.gov.
12. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry. 2021. Toxic Substances Portal: Substances A-Z. cdc.gov. 
13. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IV. 1992. Five-Year Review Report for A. L. Taylor (Valley of the Drums) Superfund Site Brooks, Bullitt County, Kentucky. 
14. Haight-Maybriar, L. December 199. Correspondence. 
15. KYDEP, Emergency Response & Removal Branch. November 1992. Removal Assessment Evaluation and Eligibility Form.  
16. Millanti, C. November 1992. Fwd: Copy of Field Report. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, Superfund Branch.