From: James Kotcon <jkotcon@wvu.edu>
To: Regina Hendrix <regina1936@verizon.net>; Jim Sconyers <jim_scon@yahoo.com>
Cc: Karen Grubb <kgrubb@fairmontstate.edu>; Sandra Cress
<sandra.cress@gmail.com>; ec@osenergy.org; Mike Price <greyhawkwv@verizon.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 5:41:40 PM
Subject: Re: [EC] MIC Leak in September
Having worked with MIC during the 1980's, I can assure you that it has a very potent odor. If a tank was opened, anyone nearby would have smelled it. Whether that is enough to warrant notification is certainly a fair question. Given that Bayer found it prudent to have employees checked out at their medical facilities, and given the level of controversy over their earlier failure to release information during the Larvin unit explosion, this event certainly perpetuates the notion that Bayer is not a good neighbor or a well-behaved corporate citizen. The call as to whether this was significant should have been made by Dale Petry, Kanawha County
Emergency Services Director, not by Bayer's corporate offices.
JBK
>>> Regina Hendrix <
regina1936@verizon.net> 10/28/2008 4:49 PM >>>
I am 99.9% sure the MIC is just a small part of the lethal chemicals
which are carelessly stored in Kanawha Valley. In years past we've had
big retrenchments at DuPont and Carbide and don't think for a moment
they took their poisons with them when they left. I can't imagine DEP
would have checked up on those sites when DuPont and Carbide left. If
DEP can ignore 5 years worth of selenium violations which were
self-reported........well, this is just one more reason for us to force
DEP to start doing their job.
When we insist on knowing what is stored in the Valley, I can hear them
claiming "Homeland Security. We've got to keep this quiet
and keep a
terrorist from blowing it up." At this point I'm much more concerned
about the corporate types than I am about terrorists. Regina
Jim Sconyers wrote:
> What can/should we do about this? Scary and intolerable corporate
> arrogance - "Don't worry your little heads, we'll let you know if
> there's a problem..."
>
> Bil DeP: any legal recourse we should look into?
>
> Jim Sconyers
>
jim_scon@yahoo.com > 603.969.6712
>
> Remember: Mother Nature bats last.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Regina Hendrix <
regina1936@verizon.net>
> *To:* Maya Nye <
peopleconcernedaboutmic@gmail.com>
> *Cc:* All of FOM list <
fom@lists.riseup.net>; WV Chapter Energy
> Committee <
EC@osenergy.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, October 27, 2008 11:01:07 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [EC] MIC Leak in September
>
> Maya:
>
> Oh, my God, we have to do something about this. We can't let this
> pass. We are sitting ducks here in Kanawha Valley. Expendable people.
> Another Bhopal in the making.
>
> Regina
>
> Maya Nye wrote:
> > Bayer Communication Issues Continue, County Officials Say
> >
> > Posted: 5:15 PM Oct 27, 2008
> > Last
Updated: 7:32 PM Oct 27, 2008
> > Reporter: Mike Waterhouse
> > Email Address:
mike.waterhouse@wsaz.com > <mailto:
mike.waterhouse@wsaz.com>
> >
> <
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/mailto:mike.waterhouse@wsaz.com?subject=Bayer%20Communication%20Issues%20Continue,%20County%20Officials%20Say>
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > A
> >
> <
http://gray.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bayer+Communication+Issues+Continue%2C+County+Officials+Say+&expire=&urlID=32005986&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsaz.com%2Fnews%2Fheadlines%2F33401989.html&partnerID=98846# > <
http://gray.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bayer+Communication+Issues+Continue%2C+County+Officials+Say+&expire=&urlID=32005986&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsaz.com%2Fnews%2Fheadlines%2F33401989.html&partnerID=98846#>>
> | A
> >
> <
http://gray.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bayer+Communication+Issues+Continue%2C+County+Officials+Say+&expire=&urlID=32005986&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsaz.com%2Fnews%2Fheadlines%2F33401989.html&partnerID=98846# > <
http://gray.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bayer+Communication+Issues+Continue%2C+County+Officials+Say+&expire=&urlID=32005986&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsaz.com%2Fnews%2Fheadlines%2F33401989.html&partnerID=98846#>>
> | A
> >
> <
http://gray.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bayer+Communication+Issues+Continue%2C+County+Officials+Say+&expire=&urlID=32005986&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsaz.com%2Fnews%2Fheadlines%2F33401989.html&partnerID=98846# > <
http://gray.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Bayer+Communication+Issues+Continue%2C+County+Officials+Say+&expire=&urlID=32005986&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsaz.com%2Fnews%2Fheadlines%2F33401989.html&partnerID=98846#>>
> >
> > KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Kanawha County's emergency services
> > director says
he should have been informed about a minor situation
> > involving the chemical MIC at the Bayer CropScience Plant in Institute.
> >
> > In fact, county officials say the first they heard about it is when
> > WSAZ.com <
http://WSAZ.com> contacted them about it.
> >
> >
> > MIC, short for methyl isocyanate, is an extremely toxic chemical used
> > in the production of some pesticides.
> >
> > Tom Dover, spokesperson for Bayer, confirms a tank associated with MIC
> > storage was opened during inspections in the west side of the plant,
> > but says the amount of chemical leaked was far below reporting levels.
> > The situation happened near the end of September.
> >
> > Workers took action after smelling the odor of MIC, which Dover says
> > has a strong smell even
at very low levels. Employees then left the
> > area and several were checked out at the plant's medical facility. One
> > contractor then decided on his own to go to an outside hospital after
> > his shift. Dover says he was released with nothing found.
> >
> > Dover tells WSAZ.com there was no harmful exposure of MIC to employees
> > or anyone outside the plant. He called this a "non-incident" because
> > the levels were not anywhere near dangerous levels.
> >
> > "At no point was anyone in danger," Dover said.
> >
> > Dover adds that Bayer would have notified county officials "without
> > hesitation" had the amount of MIC reached reportable levels.
> >
> > Dale Petry, Kanawha County Emergency Services Director, says he's a
> > little disturbed that he didn't know about this situation, even if the
> > amount
of MIC involved did not meet a reportable level.
> >
> > "I wish I had known about it," said Petry. "Let me make the decision
> > whether it should be reported to the public."
> >
> > Petry says he doesn't think this latest incident will hurt the
> > county's relationship with the plant. He wants to continue to work
> > with Bayer to improve communication.
> >
> > Bayer came under fire for its lack of communication to the county
> > after an explosion at its Larvin unit in early September. Two workers
> > died as a result of the blast. Kanawha County officials say Bayer
> > waited hours to release any detailed information about the severity of
> > the incident.
> >
> > As a result of having little information, county officials issued a
> > shelter-in-place for the western portion of Kanawha County,
affecting
> > thousands of people.
> >
> > Bayer later admitted that it should have provided better information
> > during the explosion and agreed to change its notification system.
> >
> >
> >
>
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