December 29, 2007, Charleston Gazette

Bayer's odor alert called 'abysmal'

Carper chides chemical plant over slim information about widespread stench on Friday

Hundreds of people in the Kanawha Valley woke up Friday morning to a strong odor coming from the Bayer CropScience chemical plant in Institute. Officials at the plant maintained throughout Friday that the unpleasant scent was caused by a leak that was too small to pose a public health hazard. However, the smell, described as a cabbage-type odor, was evident across a large area of land, causing headaches and alarm among many people, said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper. At least one man in St. Albans was hospitalized. As of Friday afternoon, the man was still in the emergency room, according to a Metro 911 employee.

Carper criticized the lack of communication from Bayer and questioned whether the reaction from plant officials was adequate, considering the potency of the smell. "How could it be a controlled event when the chemical release [could be smelled] clear down in Putnam County?" he asked Friday afternoon.

Sometime late Thursday night or early Friday morning, a chemical called thiodicarb had vented from three drums that decomposed, causing the smell, Bayer said in a news release. Thiodicarb is an ingredient widely used in agricultural insecticides. "One of the materials created in the decomposition was dimethyldisulfide, which has a very pungent odor that the human nose can detect at extremely low concentrations," the release stated.

Bayer first notified dispatchers about an incident Friday around 12:30 a.m., and plant officials continued to call 911 dispatchers throughout the morning. However, they didn't provide emergency officials with any information about the extent of the incident, type of chemical involved or safety measures people should take, according to recordings of the calls acquired by the Gazette. Meanwhile, dispatchers at Metro 911 became "slammed" with calls from dozens of people concerned about the strong odor, Carper said.

"I just woke up and I smell something terrible in our house," one caller said. "Can you tell me if there's a chemical leak?" another caller asked. "Oh my God, it's awful. I mean it's in our house." Several callers wondered if there was a health risk. Dispatchers often told them that there wasn't.

Those dispatchers had little to tell the callers because of a lack of information provided by Bayer, Carper said. Classifying it only as a minor event, no other details about what had happened were given to county emergency officials until several hours after plant officials cleared the site at 5:50 a.m., Carper said. "The notification was just absolutely abysmal from Bayer," he said. "Information given to the first responders was so inadequate that no one knew totally what to do. "We knew this was going to be an event that was going to understandably cause public concern," he said. "I mean there was stink all over the place."

Bayer spokesman Tom Dover said the company supports and counts on the 911 system, as well as the news media, to deliver important messages to the public. "There's always room for improvement," Dover said, "and we'll be continuing to work with them to address any concerns that they have."

Carper said he didn't fully know what had happened until he met with plant manager Donald Elswick around 11 a.m. Even then, he said, he didn't know how to take what he was told because of the large amount of area covered by the odor. "I'm going to trust, but verify," he said. "I'm not a chemical expert." Carper said he plans to have county emergency officials critique Friday's incident and possibly revisit the requirements for chemical companies to follow during future situations. (By James I. Davison)

December 28, 2007

County Calls for Investigation of Leak at Institute Plant

Kanawha County officials are calling for a complete review of a chemical plant incident Friday morning.

Early Friday, there were reports that a chemical used to make insecticide leaked from a plastic drum at Bayer CropScience plant in Institute.

The chemical is called Thiodicarb, and plant officials say it poses no health hazards, but does have a strong smell.

However, Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper said after meeting with a Bayer official, they learned three drums of Thiodicarb ruptured.

Carper further learned that there were another ten drums that could have ruptured.

Carper said this was not a "minor event" as Bayer officials claimed. The commissioner vows new protocols will be set in place for future incidents.

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