NATIONAL NEWS – West Virginia chemical plant leak kills 2 and injures about 30

By Renae Hefty

A chemical leak at a silver recovery plant located near the community of Institute, West Virginia, killed two people and sent about 30 people to hospitals on Wednesday. Located in the region known as “chemical valley,” Institute, is located 10 miles from West Virginia’s capital, Charleston. The site of the incident was Catalyst Refiners. At the plant, nitric acid is used to dissolve materials and extract silver nitrate from them. It is believed that nitric acid reacted violently to another substance during a cleaning process and toxic hydrogen sulfide was produced. 

WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston treated a dozen patients who sustained non-life-threatening injuries from the leak. Eight of the patients were not at the scene but were in the area at the time of the incident. Vandalia Health Charleston Area Medical Center also treated multiple victims of the incident, hospital spokesman Dale Witte said. Seven first responders who had been in ambulances responding to the emergency were also among the injured receiving care.

The owner of Catalyst Refiners, Ames Goldsmith Corps., said it is saddened by the deaths and its thoughts were with the victims and their families. It promised to work with local, state and federal officials to investigate the leak. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has six months to complete their opened investigation into the incident at Catalyst Refiners. According to West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, the local air quality and water supply was unaffected by the chemical leak.