HENRICO COUNTY, Va — Though a top Henrico administrator expressed frustration that the county was not notified about a recent toxic gas release into the community, records show county emergency officials were in fact made aware of the incident the day it happened.
On April 9, nearly 600 pounds of ethylene oxide (EtO) was released into the atmosphere at Sterilization Services of Virginia, a plant in Eastern Henrico that sterilizes medical equipment.
According to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the leak was caused by a check valve malfunction. DEQ said the incident violated permit requirements and resulted in a proposed $53,600 fine.
"It exceeded both the hourly and annual pollution limits for the particular unit that leaked, so the numbers involved are extremely concerning. This is not a minor incident," Irena Como of the Southern Environmental Law Center said.
The Environmental Protection Agency in 2022 identified an elevated cancer risk for those who live near the facility and are exposed to the gas long-term. However, the EPA has since rescinded that finding, and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has said the plant has implemented safeguards to reduce emissions and thus reduce those risks.
Given that history, some community members were upset they were not made aware of the April incident.
Watch: Henrico facility faces $53K fine after 600-pound toxic gas release
“There's a lot for them to be concerned about, and we do feel that communications and transparency is critical," said Faith Harris of Virginia Interfaith Power and Light.
CBS 6 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to find out who knew what and when.
On June 2, nearly two months after the fact, Henrico Deputy County Manager Steven Yob emailed DEQ saying he learned about the incident at a neighborhood meeting with Virginia Interfaith Power and Light.
"I am disappointed that Henrico County did not receive any notification of this event. We should not hear of an incident of this magnitude at a neighborhood meeting," Yob said in his email.
However, emails obtained by CBS 6 showed the Henrico Fire Department actually did receive a notification on the very day of the incident from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). The records showed Sterilization Services of Virginia reported the incident to VDEM, and VDEM forwarded the report to Henrico.
According to the incident report, the EtO release occurred at 5 a.m. VDEM received the report at 3:47 p.m. By the time Henrico learned of the event, Deputy County Manager for Public Safety Jackson Baynard said the leak had been controlled, and a HAZMAT response was not necessary.
“We got that notification in this instance. Because no action's required, there is no active release occurring, our folks— the fire department trusts our captains and officers to look, evaluate, 'Hey, no action is required.' So, from that point moving forward, there's nothing additional that's going to take place," Baynard said.
“So, what you're saying is, in this particular incident, it did not reach a level of urgency in which Henrico would feel like it needed to communicate that immediately to the public?" reporter Tyler Layne asked.
“Absolutely," Baynard said. "We're well prepared to do alerting to the community if it is needed."
“Considering that the deputy county manager did send that email, and he said Henrico was not aware of this event at all when in reality the fire department was aware of this incident, should the fire department have told someone with the administration, ‘Hey, this occurred?'” Layne asked.
“So that’s where it falls with me to make sure if there is a need to know that I'm talking with the fire chief or I'm talking with a police chief, or sheriff, whoever it may be ... to make sure the rest of county administration knows about that," Baynard said. "So, moving forward, when we look at if we take any type of after actions from the fire service, communication is always something we want to improve on.”
“And looking back at this April incident, you believe that the county handled it appropriately as far as the response and communication?” Layne asked.
“Yes, yes, I feel good about how that was communicated to us through the normal channels. The normal channels worked. Once the National Center got the information, they then pumped that out really quickly. We got it, our folks looked at it, evaluated," Baynard said.
"Community members obviously have been concerned about this plant for some time now, so even though this incident didn't require a public notification, do you understand why some people in that community might feel like they should be aware and they should know?" Layne asked.
"If we look at our community as a whole, I think there could be sensitivity around lots of issues, whether it's an industrial issue, whether it's a traffic issue, whether it's a panhandling issue. There's different things that concern people, and I think we try as a county to really listen to our residents and listen to our community on what they need to know and try to share as much information as timely as possible, and that's something we'll continue to do," Baynard said.
“Moving forward, if there was another release of ethylene oxide at Sterilization Services of Virginia, what would be the plan with communicating that to the public, if any?” Layne asked.
“That's when we trust in our responders and we trust in our subject matter experts that we have," Baynard said. "And then I'll make sure that I get that information to the County Manager and Deputy County Manager Yob if we have some type of response, and we don't want to be premature with any of our stuff too to cause unnecessary alarm.”
Baynard said the county must be thoughtful about when it issues emergency notifications so that people don't panic when there is not a reason to be immediately concerned.
For those interested in receiving emergency alerts, the county offers a resource residents can sign up for. These alerts provide information about life safety incidents:
- Info on Henrico County Emergency Alerts: https://henrico.gov/services/henrico-alert/ [henrico.gov]
- Sign-up for alerts: https://member.everbridge.net/892807736728761/login [member.everbridge.net]
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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