The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute, West Virginia, as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility, according to Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman. A chemical gas reaction involving nitric acid and another substance took place at the plant. Sigman described the incident as a violent reaction where the chemicals instantaneously overreacted. He noted that starting or ending a chemical reaction are the most dangerous times, though the specific cause of the violent reaction remains unclear.
Among the injured were seven ambulance workers responding to the leak, officials said. Other people were taken to hospitals in private cars, with one casualty transported in a garbage truck. All the deaths and injuries occurred on the plant site, according to authorities. The exact number of hospitalized individuals and their current conditions have not been disclosed.
Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding area, which was lifted more than five hours later. Sigman stated that you had to get really close to the facility to smell it, indicating the leak's limited immediate detection range. The incident required a large-scale decontamination operation where people had to remove all their clothes and be sprayed down. The specific chemicals leaked and their health hazards have not been detailed by officials.
Catalyst Refiners works to remove silver from what remains of chemical processes and can find thousands of dollars of the precious metal just by vacuuming the floors in a plant's offices, according to Sigman. The company's safety protocols and whether they were followed during the incident are under investigation.
Ames Goldsmith Corp., the owner of Catalyst Refiners, said it is saddened by the deaths and its thoughts were with all those impacted and their families. The company expressed that this is an unfathomably difficult time and their thoughts and prayers are with colleagues and families. Ames Goldsmith said it would work with local, state and federal officials as they investigate what happened.