Two dead, dozens hospitalized after a gas plant leak in West Virginia’s ‘chemical valley’

A chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business on Wednesday killed two people and sent 19 others to the hospital, including one in critical condition, authorities said. The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute 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.” “Starting or ending a chemical reaction are the most dangerous times,” Sigman said. Among the injured were seven ambulance workers responding to the leak, officials said. Other people were taken to the hospitals in private cars or even in one case a garbage truck, Sigman said. One person was in critical condition, Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said. Vandalia Health Charleston Area Medical Center, one of several hospitals in the area, was treating multiple patients, some brought by ambulance, while members of the community were arriving Wednesday afternoon asking to be checked, hospital spokesman Dale Witte said. Witte said patients were experiencing respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and itchy eyes. They were being evaluated in the emergency room. WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston said in a statement it has cared for a dozen patients, including eight who arrived by personal vehicle and were not at the scene but were in the area at the time. It said none of the injuries were considered life-threatening. 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 decontami…