Black mold on Tennessee homes: famed whiskey giant sued

Christi Long, a small business owner from Lincoln County, Tennessee, has filed a lawsuit against whiskey giant Jack Daniels. She lost thousands of euros on the costs of cleaning the place of her event. According to her, it is the fault of the big neighbor, Jack Daniels.

A black fungus grows in the vicinity of Jack Daniels distilleries and warehouses. Houses, plants, playgrounds, road signs: everything is covered in dirt, as you can see in these photos:

The mushroom is better known as whiskey mushroom, officially Baudoinia compniacensis. It’s not just found at Jack Daniels in Tennessee, but at distilleries of all kinds of spirits. In various places in America and Asia, but also in the cognac region in France, for example.

‘Very Unique Mushroom’

“This is a very unique fungus that lives on ethanol as a breeding ground,” says mushroom expert Jos Houbraken from the Westerdijk Institute. “Ethanol makes this fungus resistant to drought and high temperatures and it can grow on all kinds of materials.”

Ethanol is the best known form of alcohol. In distilleries, but also in warehouses where the whiskey has matured for years in breathable barrels, small particles of ethanol find their way into the environment.

Blocked Jack Daniels warehouse

For example on the roofs and walls of houses, as can be clearly seen in the photos. Because other fungi do less well under these circumstances, whiskey mold can continue its activities undisturbed. “It has few natural enemies,” says Houbraken.

And so contractor Christi Long is trying to block the construction of a new Jack Daniels warehouse. With success: the court ruled that the construction had to be temporarily stopped anyway because the permit was not yet in order.

Long also hopes to get the judge to order Jack Daniels to close the six existing warehouses. They were recently put into operation, after which Long suffered from the fungus. Jack Daniels says in response to wait for pending lawsuits “and always follow applicable regulations.”

Locals, whose homes are also covered in dust, are asking the company to start using better air filters. This way, ethanol should be prevented from ending up in the environment and Jack Daniels can continue to make whisky.

bathroom mold

“Anyway, the only solution is to reduce ethanol emissions,” says Houbraken. “You can spend thousands on cleaning, but if the soil isn’t gone, the mold will come back in a few months. You can compare it a bit with mold in your bathroom.”

An advantage for the inhabitants: whiskey mold is not harmful to public health.