INSTITUTE, W.Va. — A chemical leak Wednesday at the Catalyst Refiners silver-recovery plant in Institute killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, officials said.
Kanawha County Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said the incident happened as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility. He said a reaction involving nitric acid and another substance became violent during a cleaning process and “instantaneously overreacted.”
County Commission President Ben Salango said the reaction produced toxic hydrogen sulfide. Sigman added that starting or ending chemical reactions can be the most dangerous times.
Among the injured were seven ambulance workers who responded to the leak, authorities said. Gov. Patrick Morrisey praised first responders for rushing to help and said they are in the community’s prayers. Morrisey said one person remained in serious condition.
People suffering symptoms were taken to area hospitals by ambulance, private vehicles and, in one reported case, a garbage truck, Sigman said. Vandalia Health Charleston Area Medical Center treated multiple patients who reported respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and itchy eyes, hospital spokesman Dale Witte said. WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston said it cared for about a dozen patients, including eight who arrived by personal vehicle and were not at the scene; those injuries were not considered life-threatening.
A shelter-in-place order for the surrounding area remained in effect for more than five hours before being lifted. Officials said the two deaths occurred on the plant site. Sigman said the odor was noticeable only if someone got very close to the facility.
The incident required a large decontamination operation in which exposed people removed clothing and were sprayed down, officials said. Morrisey said preliminary assessments indicate local air quality and the water supply were not affected.
Catalyst Refiners, owned by Ames Goldsmith Corp., removes silver from residues of chemical processes. The company said it was saddened by the deaths and extended condolences to those affected. Company President Frank Barber called the event “an unfathomably difficult time” and said the company would cooperate with local, state and federal officials investigating the leak.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation and has up to six months to complete it, a spokesperson said.
Nitric acid is commonly used in silver recovery to dissolve materials and produce silver nitrate, which can then be processed to recover metallic silver. Sigman noted that the company recovers silver from many sources at the Institute complex, even from vacuumed office carpets.
The plant sits near Institute, about 10 miles west of Charleston, in a region historically known as West Virginia’s “chemical valley,” though many of the older hazardous-materials plants along the Kanawha River have closed or changed ownership over recent decades.