Governor Lee speaks on explosion, government shutdown during Cleveland visit

Gov. Lee speaking in Cleveland Monday at the SK Foods Groundbreaking.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WDEF)- While attending the grand opening of the new SK Food Plant in Cleveland, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee spoke on the tragic explosion that killed 16 in Hickman and Humphreys Counties in Middle Tennessee.

The Sheriffs of those counties announced the names of the victims killed at Accurate Energetic Systems in Bucksnort Monday.

That building was leveled Friday morning by that explosion, which authorities say is still under investigation.

Governor Lee and First Lady Maria Lee visited that community Sunday, which he described as a tragedy.

He said, “That was a heartbreaking afternoon for Maria and for me… Devastating site to see. I toured the site as well. There are questions that will have to be answered and that is the process that is underway right now.”

Accurate Energetic Systems had previously been fined by TOSHA for safety violations in 2019. 

Meanwhile, he also commented on the ongoing federal government shutdown which has been ongoing for nearly two weeks.

This is due to a stalemate on Capitol Hill as the Senate has not passed a continuing resolution to fund government services.

This has led to an increasing amount of federal services being closed such as Point Park here on Lookout Mountain.

Governor Lee says that the situation is causing unreasonable hardships. 

He said, “It’s disappointing to me that the Democrats have chosen to not vote to reopen the government…We look at every opportunity we can to mitigate the pain of a government shutdown.”

The governor pointed to the reopening of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as an example of local officials picking up the slack.