Oct. 28, 2008
TV Station Reports MIC Incident at Bayer in September
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – A Huntington television station has reported that “a very low level” release of MIC occurred at the Bayer Cropscience Plant at Institute, WV, in late September.
According to the station’s report, a tank of the deadly chemical was opened by an employee causing a leak that plant officials state was “far below reporting levels.”
The plant has been under scrutiny following an explosion at the Larvin unit in September that took the lives of two workers. Plant officials did not report the circumstances of the accident to Kanawha County authorities prompting them to error on the side of caution with shelter in places and closure of Interstate 64.
Various environmental groups --- including one in Germany, where the corporate headquarters is --- have petitioned for MIC to be removed from the plant. The chemical is the same one that in the 1980s leaked at a Union Carbide plant in India resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries.
The West Virginia plant has received numerous inspection and compliance violations, but not for the MIC unit.
One of the concerns with the amount of the liquid stored comes from the close proximity of the plant to West Virginia State University.
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