As many as 30 others were treated at a hospital and at the scene after a “chemical release” of hydrogen sulfide at a plant in Nitro, W.Va.
Listen · 2:51 min
By Christine Hauser and Mark Walker, The New York Times, April 22, 2026
Two people are dead and more than 30 needed medical treatment after a chemical emergency on Wednesday at a refinery in West Virginia, the authorities said.
Emergency responders were called to Catalyst Refiners, a silver recovery business in Nitro, about 9:30 a.m. after a “chemical release,” the authorities in Kanawha County said in a statement.
The Ames Goldsmith Corporation, which operates the plant, said that the deaths included two “colleagues,” and that a third person was being treated at a hospital.
Other employees were being evaluated at a hospital as a precaution, the company added.
The company said the casualties were the result of an industrial incident that “appears to have resulted in the creation of chemical fumes” at the refinery.
