Capitalism kills two workers in West Virginia

A tragic chemical leak wreaked havoc in the industrial town of Institute, West Virginia, on the morning of April 22 — Earth Day. The devastation caused two deaths and one critical injury and sent roughly 30 people to nearby hospitals. Seven ambulance workers were among those admitted to the emergency room. A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area and was lifted more than five hours later. 

The leak occurred at a silver recovery plant of Ames Goldsmith Catalyst Refiners, which workers were in the process of dismantling. The factory generates silver-based products used in the medical, electronic and automotive industries. The incident is believed to have ensued when nitric acid was mixed with a metal refining agent called M2000A. The plant has a history of chemical leaks since it opened in 1999.

Community plagued by environmental racism

Institute is located 10 miles from the state capital of Charleston. It is in the center of what is referred to as “Chemical Valley” because of the significant number of chemical plants in the region. 

Institute is a largely Black community in a mostly white state and home to West Virginia State University (WVSU), a historically Black (HBCU) college. WVSU’s alumni include Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician made famous by the film “Hidden Figures,” the late revolutionary militant Robert F. Williams and Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, the eldest daughter of the late actor-activist, Harry Belafonte.

Cancer rates are high throughout Chemical Valley, and industrial disasters are nothing new for the people who live in and around the town of Institute. According to a ProPublica report, the level of cancer risk from air pollution in majority-Black census tracts is more than double that of majority-white tracts, and Institute is no exception. (Mountain State Spotlight, December 21st, 2021)

Institute faced another major chemical leak in 1985 that caused over 130 residents to be treated for eye, throat and lung irritation. One year after Union Carbide murdered 2,000 people in Bhopal, India, through an irresponsible methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leak, the company’s factory in Institute (now closed) released a dangerous chemical known as aldicarb oxime into the air. Union Carbide compounds methyl isocyanate with aldicarb oxime to create a pesticide that is toxic to humans, plants and animals.

Workers World spoke with Andy Willis, an artist and retired labor activist who worked at the Union Carbide plant in Institute in 1985: “Shortly after the MIC leak in Bhopal, there was a similar leak at the Union Carbide in Institute. I was part of a campaign of workers who organized with WVSU students and faculty, as well as people in the community. People in Institute understood the colonial nature of ‘Chemical Valley’ and felt a connection with the workers in India and elsewhere.”

Capitalism and deregulation are to blame

Deregulation and pro-corporate policies contribute to chemical-induced disasters. As one example, the Trump administration issued layoff notices to 85% of the workers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in April 2025. NIOSH had conducted studies on how workplace exposure to chemicals impacts people’s health.

The ultraright, MAGA Republican-majority West Virginia state government bears just as much responsibility for the recent chemical leak as the federal government. West Virginia politicians have a history of siding with extractive and chemical industries against their constituents. The same was true when the Democratic Party dominated state government prior to 2015. Most legislation that passes in West Virginia favors polluters over consumers.

On April 22, the same day the two workers were killed in Institute, there was a coal mine waste spill in a creek in another part of Chemical Valley. Environmental catastrophes and contaminated drinking water are not unusual in West Virginia. A 2024 study showed that West Virginia had the nation’s highest percentage of public water systems with health-based violations under the Safe Drinking Water Act. (pulitzercenter.org, Nov. 26, 2025)

People are currently without clean drinking water in the most northern and southern counties in the state.

Capitalist greed hurts working-class and oppressed people. Billionaires and fascistic politicians are accelerating their attacks against workers and the poor. Socialism is the only system that can sustainably protect the environment and liberate humanity.