Two Kansas companies indicted for toxic gas cloud released over Atchison in 2016
More than two years after a toxic chemical fog surrounded Atchison and sent about 140 seeking medical help, two Kansas companies have been indicted on federal charges of safety violations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas announced Wednesday.
Midwest Grain Products, Inc., of Atchison, Kan., and Harcros Chemicals, Inc., of Kansas City, Kan., are charged with Clean Air Act violations that federal prosecutors say caused the poisonous cloud and put the public in danger.
The toxic gas was released on the morning of Oct. 21, 2016 at MGPI’s Atchison facility.
Court records say 4,000 gallons of sulfuric acid delivered by Harcros was mistakenly combined with 5,800 gallons of sodium hypochlorite to form a toxic chlorine gas cloud that covered a large part of the city for 45 minutes until emergency personnel arrived to turn off the flow.
Residents outside the area of the fog were asked to evacuate while others living north of the MGPI plant were told to stay inside their homes.
Witnesses who were outside at the time described a chlorine smell and said it was difficult to breathe.
The indictment filed Wednesday alleges two men, a driver for Harcros and an operator for MGPI, “violated safety rules by failing to verify that the connection was correct and failing to monitor the transfer” of the sulfuric acid.
A statement from MGPI sent to The Star Wednesday afternoon said the company was “reviewing this claim.”
“The company has been focused on the Atchison community, our employees and cooperating fully with safety officials since this incident. In fact, the federal government agency responsible for chemical safety complimented MGPI’s response,” MGPI said in its statement, including a link to recommendations made by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
The board’s report said MGPI implemented the recommendations in less than 90 days.
The other company named in the indictment, Harcros, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Environmental Protection Agency helped investigate the incident.
Along with the charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office also announced that a web page, a phone line and an email address have been set up for victims to get further information about the case.
Those who were affected by incident are asked to visit justice.gov/usao-ks/victim-witness, call 913-551-6543 or send email to usaks.victim.witness@usdoj.gov.
This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 5:09 PM.
