Ruptured Railcar Inside Axiall Plant in New Martinsville Spews Noxious Chlorine Gas Cloud
NEW MARTINSVILLE — An odorous cloud of chlorine gas blanketed the area surrounding Axiall Corp.’s chemical plant near Proctor after a railcar began leaking inside the facility Saturday morning.
The incident forced many residents in both Marshall and Wetzel counties to evacuate their homes for several hours, while two workers at the site were hospitalized and released.
The leak was first reported around 8:45 a.m., when Marshall County 911 said a chemical cloud from the plant was heading south. Traffic was disrupted on both sides of the river as portions of both W.Va. 2 and Ohio 7 were shut down throughout much of the morning and afternoon.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection cleared officials to reopen the roads and allow residents back into their homes by about 4:30 p.m., almost eight hours after the leak began.
Marshall County Emergency Management Director Tom Hart said weather conditions caused the cloud to linger longer than it normally would have.
“There wasn’t a lot of air flow, not only with the heat but the humidity,” he said.
According to a statement released by Axiall officials, a rail tanker car loaded with liquid chlorine developed a leak inside the company’s facility.
The leak was stopped before 2 p.m., according to the company.
The hospitalized workers included one plant employee and a contract worker. Others were treated at an onsite health facility.
Hart said he believed a few residents reported to Wetzel County Hospital complaining of minor ill effects, but he was unaware of anybody becoming sick in Marshall County.
Overall, Hart said he was pleased with the response by the company, as well as agencies from around Marshall and Wetzel counties. The state DEP, Division of Highways and even emergency crews from Ohio County responded.
“It was a unified effort. … We thought it went well, but we’ll sit down later and do an after-action report and see how we can improve our response to something like this,” Hart said.
Axiall officials said hazmat crews evaluated the railcar. They estimated a 26-mile-long area was impacted by the leak. The plant was evacuated and shut down, and the status of operations there was unknown late Saturday.
River traffic also was restricted through much of the day due to the chemical cloud.
Across the river, Ohio 7 between Clarington and Hannibal was shut down as a precaution in Monroe County. Evacuations in that area were voluntary, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.
The leak forced the postponement of River High School’s varsity football game at Bellaire, which has been rescheduled for 12:30 p.m. today. Magnolia High School’s junior varsity football game against Shadyside began as scheduled but was suspended with the score 16-2 in favor of Magnolia.
Also canceled Saturday was Magnolia’s girls’ soccer game at home against Steubenville Catholic Central High School.
Washington Lands’ Volunteer Fire Department, Washington Lands Elementary School and Magnolia High School were open for people who needed a place to go during the crisis.
This is not the first industrial accident to affect residents in Kent, as an explosion at the nearby Blue Racer Midstream natural gas processing plant in 2013 sent residents from their homes.
In Wetzel County, the New Martinsville Bridge across the Ohio River was closed and residents in the Steelton area and north were evacuated, according to emergency officials.
New Martinsville Police issued an alert around noon Saturday.
“If you smell chlorine, then it would be in your best interest to evacuate immediately rather than waiting on emergency services to come to you. We are working as fast as we can to notify everyone,” the alert said.
After the chemical leak was reported, Sistersville Mayor Bill Rice and the city water plant operator Craig Surface contacted the proper authorities to determine if there was any threat to the city’s water supply from the Ohio River.
“At this time, there is no imminent threat,” according to a statement released by the city. “The chemicals were released into the air as opposed to directly into the water. … Sistersville’s water supply is unaffected as of this time.”
According to Axiall’s website, the company is an integrated chemicals and building products company. Headquartered in Atlanta, Axiall has manufacturing facilities located throughout North America and in Asia.
City Editor Ian Hicks contributed to this report.
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