A chemical emergency was reported around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at a plant in Kanawha County, and dispatchers said a shelter in place was issued within a 1 mile radius near Catalyst Refiners in Institute.
The order stretched from West Virginia State University to the Nitro/St. Albans Bridge on both the Route 25 and Route 60 side of the river, while MacCorkle Avenue was closed from Roxbury Street in South Charleston to Walnut Street in St. Albans and 1st Avenue South in Institute was shut from New Goff Mountain Road to Kilowatt Road. Drivers were asked to avoid the area if possible.
That meant travel through St. Albans, South Charleston and Institute was disrupted across a wide corridor near the plant, with the emergency reaching beyond one neighborhood and into a major stretch of the county's road network. The key detail was not just the alarm at the plant, but how quickly it pushed traffic and daily movement out of the area.
Later in the day, MacCorkle Avenue reopened for all traffic from St. Albans to South Charleston, and the shelter in place was lifted in St. Albans and South Charleston after working with emergency management. The immediate threat had eased, but the response showed how a chemical emergency at Catalyst Refiners can ripple through several towns before crews are able to clear the roads and lift restrictions.