A chemical leak at a silver recovery plant in Institute, West Virginia, killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, authorities said Wednesday as emergency crews responded to what officials described as a toxic chemical release. Kanawha County Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said the incident happened at the Catalyst Refiners plant while workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility.
Sigman said the release began as a chemical gas reaction at the plant involving nitric acid and another substance, and he described it as rapidly escalating. “a violent reaction of the chemicals and it instantaneously overreacted,” Sigman said at a news briefing. “Starting or ending a chemical reaction are the most dangerous times,” he added.
State and county officials said the reaction was believed to have produced toxic hydrogen sulfide. Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said the chemical reaction, believed to have occurred during a cleaning process, produced the gas. Officials also said seven ambulance workers responding to the leak were among the injured.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey said one person was in serious condition and said the state was monitoring the recovery of patients who were transported to hospitals. “We know that the first responders, they always run to the fire. They put themselves in harm’s way,” Morrisey said at an evening news conference. He added, “We’re very grateful to these brave men and women and what they do. And they’re in our prayers,” and he said the state was monitoring the recovery of those taken to local hospitals.
Hospitals in the area treated multiple patients, with some people arriving by ambulance and others by private vehicles. Vandalia Health Charleston Area Medical Center said it was treating multiple patients and that community members were arriving Wednesday afternoon asking to be checked, according to a spokesman, Dale Witte. Witte said patients reported respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and itchy eyes, and he said they were being evaluated in the emergency room.
WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital said in a statement that it had cared for a dozen patients, including eight who arrived by personal vehicle and were not at the scene but were in the area at the time. The hospital said those injuries were not considered life-threatening. Authorities said a shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area and lifted more than five hours later, and Sigman said people had to get close to the facility to smell the leak. “You had to get really close to the facility to smell it,” Sigman said.
The response included a large-scale decontamination effort, authorities said, during which people removed their clothes and were sprayed down. Sigman said all the deaths occurred on the plant site. The incident unfolded in a region known for chemical industry along the Kanawha River, though many plants in the area have closed or changed ownership over recent decades.
Catalyst Refiners is part of Institute’s local industrial landscape and works to recover silver from materials left after chemical processes, officials said. Silver is used in products ranging from circuit boards and electronics to photographic and X-ray films and jewelry, and nitric acid can dissolve materials to leave silver nitrate that can be processed to recover pure silver.
Ames Goldsmith Corp., the owner of Catalyst Refiners, said it was investigating the leak. Company President Frank Barber said in a statement released at the briefing that the incident was “an unfathomably difficult time,” and that “Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and their families.” Ames Goldsmith said it would work with local, state and federal officials and that OSHA had opened an investigation.
Authorities said investigators were still working to determine what exactly led to the chemical reaction. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials opened the investigation, with an agency spokesperson saying OSHA has six months to complete its examination.