One dead in second West Virginia industrial plant explosion

PHILIPPI, W.Va. — Authorities say there’s been another fatal explosion at a West Virginia industrial plant where two people were killed last month.

Officials say the explosion killed one person June 20 at Midland Resource Recovery, a company based in Ontario, Canada, that odorizes natural gas.

In a preliminary report, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection says contractors at the facility outside Philippi were disassembling a 115-litre tank, trying to render tanks safe from the previous explosion May 24 that killed two and injured one.

The agency says a preliminary report shows one other person was injured and an unknown quantity of Mercaptan, the chemical used to give natural gas an odour, was spilled.

A woman answered the telephone at the company’s headquarters in Ontario declined to comment.