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. The company is owned by Ames Goldsmith Corp.
Kanawha County Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said the incident occurred as workers were preparing to shut down 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 among the most dangerous times.
Among the injured were seven ambulance workers who responded to the leak, authorities said. Gov. Patrick Morrisey praised first responders and said they remain in the community’s prayers. Officials said one person remained in serious condition.
People with symptoms were taken to area hospitals by ambulance, private vehicles and, in one reported case, a garbage truck. 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; eight 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 and that any odor was noticeable only if someone got very close to the facility.
The response included a large decontamination operation in which exposed people removed clothing and were sprayed down. Preliminary assessments indicate local air quality and the water supply were not affected, Morrisey said.
Catalyst Refiners, which removes silver from residues of chemical processes, 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 investigators.
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; Sigman noted the company recovers silver from many sources at the Institute complex, including vacuumed office carpets. The plant sits near Institute, about 10 miles west of Charleston, in an area historically known as West Virginia’s “chemical valley,” though many older hazardous-materials plants along the Kanawha River have closed or changed ownership over recent decades.