8 sickened by chemical exposure at US plant

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-01 10:02

EAST ST. LOUIS, Illinois -- One of two Missouri hospital emergency rooms reopened Sunday, a day after being shut down under quarantine when eight people sickened by a dangerous chemical's release sought treatment.

Price McCarty, an FBI spokesman in Springfield, Illinois, said the chemical release Saturday at the Ro-Corp. plant caused no deaths, countering a statement earlier Sunday by an East St. Louis city official that two people had died.

The chemical, which authorities said was likely the highly toxic material nitroaniline, was released when a barrel was dropped at the Ro-Corp. plant.

Seven people were still in the hospital, at least one in serious condition, while an eighth patient was released late Sunday.

SSM DePaul Health Center in Missouri's St. Louis County reopened its emergency department Sunday afternoon after quarantining it the previous night, spokeswoman Jamie Newell said.

At St. Anthony's Medical Center most of the emergency department was reopened Sunday following decontamination, the hospital said on its Web site.

Earlier Sunday, East St. Louis city manager Robert Betts said two people had died. He later told a newspaper that he could not confirm the deaths. Betts did not immediately respond to repeated calls made to his office and cell phone Sunday by The Associated Press.

Nitroaniline is commonly used in the synthesis of dyes, antioxidants, pharmaceuticals, gasoline, poultry medicines, and as a corrosion inhibitor. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Web site says it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, respiratory arrest and other symptoms and ailments.

Steve Robins, president of the G.S. Robins & Co., the parent company Ro-Corp Inc., told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that while "we really don't know what happened" at Ro-Corp., the problem was contained by Sunday.

A company Web site says Ro-Corp is a packaging/repackaging facility for dry materials.