Carbide to Suspend Aldicarb Work, Pay Expenses of Victims
Union Carbide Corp. announced today that it is suspending production of aldicarb oxime at its Institute plant until it determines what caused the poison gas to leak this week, injuring 135 people.
A spokesman also acknowledged that storage of the pesticide ingredient in a reactor vessel before Sunday’s leak was “not normal, everyday procedure,” but said it is “not an unheard-of procedure.”
About 500 gallons of the chemical spewed Sunday from the reactor vessel that was being used as a storage tank after three gaskets failed, officials said.
“In view of the need for a complete understanding of the exact circumstances which led to the incident, we have decided to temporarily halt all aldicarb solution manufacture at Institute,” spokesman Thad Epps said.
Epps said Carbide believes that steam entered a steel jacket surrounding the vessel, touching off a heat-induced reaction that raised pressure inside and blew out the gaskets. He said officials do not know how the steam got there.
Offer to Pay Expenses
On Monday, company officials acknowledged that workers at first thought that the leak at the Institute plant was not serious and delayed notifying authorities. Union Carbide offered to pay the medical expenses of those injured in the leak.
Senate Minority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) arranged for a delegation of top federal regulatory officials, including Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Thomas, to inspect the plant today.
Six Carbide employees were injured, 129 residents were treated at hospitals and thousands more were trapped in their homes when aldicarb oxime, the main ingredient in the pesticide Temik, escaped Sunday morning.
Toxicity Memo Disputed
Carbide disputed the significance of a 1983 internal memo describing aldicarb oxime as being in the same toxicity class as methyl isocyanate, or MIC, the deadly substance that leaked from the Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. The memo was released by the office of Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).
Carbide spokesman Tom Sprick responded that “the category has considerable range to it and all products are not equal in weight. From what I understand, (aldicarb oxime) is not as dangerous.”
Epps said today that it takes 10 times more aldicarb oxime than MIC to induce death in laboratory animals. He said that the comparison was based on “the judgment of medical physicians, our toxicological data and data from hospitals” but that he had no further information.
To Query Residents
Byrd said he arranged today’s tour in part to investigate residents’ complaints that they were given inadequate warnings and information when the chemical cloud engulfed their homes.
“This incident has raised a lot of questions that need to be answered,” he said. “The people of the Kanawha Valley need to know if this situation was handled properly.”
Rep. Bob Wise (D-W.Va.) said today that his office interviewed 254 residents Monday evening and that 144 said they were exposed to the gas before alarms sounded.
“There simply wasn’t an adequate warning,” Wise said. “The fact is it didn’t get triggered soon enough.”
