CSB to Investigate Fatal Incident at West Virginia Facility
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) announced on April 23 that it will investigate a chemical incident that occurred the previous day at the Catalyst Refiners Inc. facility in West Virginia. According to initial reports, two workers were killed and more than 30 others sought medical care after they were exposed to toxic hydrogen gas generated by a chemical reaction that occurred during equipment cleaning and decommissioning activities. Catalyst Refiners conducts silver and ethylene oxide catalyst refining operations, according to CSB’s news release.
West Virginia’s Metro News reported that seven Kanawha County ambulance crew members were among those hospitalized. Patients’ symptoms included cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, and itchy eyes. One patient, an employee at the facility, was “in critical condition” following the incident.
According to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, the incident involved nitric acid and a cleaning agent known as M2000A, which combined to produce “a very fast, violent reaction.” WVPB also reported that EPA and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection agents were overseeing cleanup efforts and monitoring air quality. Kanawha County Commission spokesperson Christopher Settles told reporters that the 11 air monitors deployed by EPA around the facility and in the surrounding community did not record detectable levels of hydrogen sulfide.
Kanawha County Commissioner Lance Wheeler confirmed that testing did not indicate that chemicals in the air were affecting local residents, according to USA Today. Shelter-in-place orders issued by local officials on the morning of April 22 were lifted later that evening. Routes 25 and 60 were temporarily shut down, and Kanawha County Schools voluntarily issued shelter-in-place orders at several nearby schools “out of an abundance of caution,” USA Today stated.
USA Today further reported that the Catalyst Refiners facility was scheduled to be closed in June and that the incident occurred during activities related to the shutdown of operations. The region around the Kanawha River was formerly known as West Virginia’s “chemical valley” due to its historic importance to the petrochemical industry, though many plants have recently closed or changed ownership. Previous chemical incidents in the region include the 2008 explosion of a waste tank containing pesticide and a 2014 storage tank leak that contaminated the local water supply, USA Today found.
More information about the Catalyst Refiners incident will become available as CSB’s investigation unfolds. Meanwhile, the agency’s press release includes initial statements by its leadership.