American Notes Environment

It came down like rain, but what was falling on a West Virginia shopping mall was a chemical compound that had leaked from a Union Carbide plant in South Charleston. About 5,700 lbs. of a mixture containing mesityl oxide escaped when an excessive amount of steam built up in a distillation tank. The stinging substance sent four people to the hospital. Others were treated for nausea and tissue irritation.

Though much less severe, some symptoms were similar to those experienced by victims of last December's Union Carbide leak in Bhopal, India, which killed at least 1,400. The poison there was methyl isocyanate, which, like mesityl oxide, is used in the production of agricultural chemicals. After Bhopal, Union Carbide closed its Institute, W. Va., plant, where methyl isocyanate was manufactured. Since then it has been revealed that there were 62 minor leaks at Institute starting in January 1980. Local safety officials charge that Union Carbide took almost four hours to acknowledge responsibility for last week's leak and two days to disclose what chemicals were involved. "Our initial checking failed to disclose any definite information," said Carbide Spokesman Thad Epps, explaining the delay. Union Carbide has agreed to pay the medical expenses of those affected.