Union Carbide Defends Its Procedures in Gas Leak

Union Carbide defended itself today against criticism of its emergency notification procedures during a poison gas leak that injured 135 people, but a company spokesman conceded that workers at first thought the leak was not a problem.

Carbide said it will investigate the cause of Sunday’s aldicarb oxime leak, and county officials said they will conduct their own investigation of the company’s emergency response.

“The system didn’t work,” said Charleston Mayor Mike Roark, who joined mayors from St. Albans, Nitro, Dunbar and other nearby communities in criticizing the warning procedures.

Blew a Gasket

Carbide spokesman Dick Henderson said the leak occurred when a gasket failed on a storage tank containing 500 gallons of the pesticide ingredient. He said plant workers initially thought the chemical was contained on the Institute plant site.

“Initially, it was not thought to be a problem,” spokesman Dick Henderson said of the leak, which he said occurred near the plant’s methyl isocyanate (MIC) unit. MIC is the chemical that killed at least 2,000 people in Bhopal, India, last December. Henderson said this release contained no MIC.

“Our visual observation showed the chemical was drifting back over the plant,” he said. “I talked to the president of the rehabilitation center (a nearby state hospital), and he said they had some odor but that everybody there was calm.”

White Gas Cloud

Instead, a stinging, white gas cloud settled on Institute, causing the community’s 3,100 residents to flee or seal themselves inside their homes.

Thousands stayed in their homes for two hours, and more than 300 were checked at an emergency medical center set up two miles away. More than 130 were treated at area hospitals for burning eyes, noses, throats and lungs, and 30 were admitted overnight.

Doctors had predicted quick recovery, but one of six Carbide workers injured in the leak was in serious condition today with eye injuries. The rest were in satisfactory condition.

A statement issued from Carbide’s headquarters in Danbury, Conn., said, “The emergency response system worked according to plan, and all government authorities and hospital emergency rooms were notified in a timely fashion.”

Engulfed by Fumes

Many of the injured residents said, however, that their homes were engulfed by fumes before they heard any warning. Teresa McGee, 21, said she began feeling dizzy 15 minutes before she heard a siren.

“People were outside covering their mouths,” she said. “They didn’t know what was going on.”

Kanawha Valley emergency services coordinator Bill White laid the blame on Carbide.

“They didn’t man their communications radio,” which was set up this spring as part of a revamped emergency system, White said. “It was used fine in an earlier (June 27) leak, but this shift didn’t use it.”

White also said the leak may have occurred before the 9:35 a.m. release time announced by Carbide.

Henderson said plant workers promptly notified the emergency services office and recommended a first-stage alert, in which sirens warn people to go home, shut windows and doors and turn off air conditioners.

The siren at the Institute fire station, triggered by emergency services personnel, sounded shortly before 10 a.m., and the Emergency Broadcast System’s first report aired at 10:09.