Two people have died and 19 were hospitalised after a chemical leak at a silver recovery business, officials said. The leak occurred on April 22 at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute, West Virginia, as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility, Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said.
A chemical gas reaction occurred at the plant involving nitric acid and another substance, Sigman said, speaking at a news briefing. He added that there was “a violent reaction of the chemicals and it instantaneously overreacted.” Sigman also said: “Starting or ending a chemical reaction are the most dangerous times.” Among the injured were seven ambulance workers responding to the leak, officials said.
Other people were taken to the hospitals in private cars. In one case, one of the casualties was taken to hospital in a garbage truck, Sigman said.
A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area and lifted more than five hours later. Officials said all the deaths and injuries occurred on the plant site.
“You had to get really close to the facility to smell it,” Sigman said.
The leak required a large scale decontamination operation in which people had to remove all their clothes and be sprayed down, authorities said.
Catalyst Refiners works to remove silver from what remains of chemical processes and can find thousands of dollars of the precious metal just by vaccuming the floors in a plant’s offices, Sigmon said.
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.
“This is an unfathomably difficult time,” said the company statement released at the news briefing. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and their families.”
Ames Goldsmith said it would work with local, state and federal officials as they investigate what happened.
The plant is located near Institute, a community about 10 miles west of Charleston, the state capital.
