Officials respond to chemical spill at WVa plant

Published 11:15 am Tuesday, September 8, 2009

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia emergency officials have ordered people in a two-block area to stay indoors with windows closed after a toxic chemical leaked from a railroad car in Huntington.

Authorities did not immediately say how many people were affected by the Tuesday morning order.

Cabell County 911 issued the order after the chemical escaped from a railroad car at the Flint Group Pigments plant.

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State Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kathy Cosco says the chemical is aniline and that the leak has been stopped.

Aniline is used in manufacturing polyurethane. It is toxic if inhaled, absorbed through the skin or swallowed.

A man who answered the phone at the plant said he could not release information, and declined to identify himself.