ECO USA Plant Manager James Kurucz oversees cleanup efforts outside of the fence on the plant’s property on Camden Street in Parkersburg Wednesday after a release of amorphous silica dust Tuesday evening. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

PARKERSBURG — The second release of a byproduct from a Parkersburg facility’s silicon recycling process in two weeks prompted the company to press pause on part of its operations.

The material “is not classified as a hazardous substance or mixture and is not identified as toxic, carcinogenic, or harmful at typical levels of exposure and is not considered harmful to aquatic life,” according to a statement from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. “However, exposure to the material should still be minimized, as inhalation may cause respiratory irritation.”

The most recent incident occurred around 7 p.m. Tuesday at ECO USA’s plant at 517 Camden St. in Parkersburg, off Staunton Avenue, according to Parkersburg Fire Chief Jason Matthews.

The plant places ground silicone rubber in chemical reactors to “chemically crack the molecules to recover the silicone polymers” and make new polymers, said James Kurucz, plant manager. That produces a substance called non-crystalline fume silica or amorphous silica, he said.

“It’s in your coffee creamer, fire extinguishers, cosmetics and other things like that that are for human use,” Kurucz said.

A thin layer of amorphous silica dust covers the grounds at ECO USA in Parkersburg Wednesday amidst cleanup efforts after a release of the material following a safety release of the material due to a plugged condenser Tuesday evening. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

The incident happened after dust from a previous batch “was carried up into our condensers and it formed a plug,” Kurucz said. That prevented steam created when a new batch was being heated from being properly released, he said. The reactors are equipped with rupture discs to release pressure in such a situation, and that happened Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, it ejected material into the air,” Kurucz said. “It happened so fast, they (workers) didn’t even see the plume of dust until they walked around the building.”

A similar incident happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 21, the DEP statement said.

“Most of the released material landed on ECO USA’s property, but some was blown about 200 yards away, landing near the Boys & Girls Club and nearby homes,” it said. “An environmental contractor was onsite at 7:30 a.m. to begin cleanup, focusing on the road (to prevent any further spread), the area near the Boys & Girls Club and then ECO USA’s property. The released material and debris like rocks and grass were collected for proper disposal.”

Tuesday’s release was contained to the fenceline of ECO USA’s property, the statement said, but Kurucz said some also reached neighboring Niche Industries in the former Schott Glass facility. A contractor was once again removing the released material Wednesday.

The DEP statement said ECO USA “has paused operations of this process to conduct further investigations and will notify the WVDEP prior to reactivation. The WVDEP is continuing to investigate the situation.”

Kurucz said they agreed to the pause after speaking with the DEP.

“The root cause is unknown but there’s all kinds of contributing causes,” he said. “The first time we thought it was cut and dried.”

Kurucz apologized for the situation.

“I feel sorry for any concerns or worries that people have,” he said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.