(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

State officials moved quickly last week after a chemical leak led to the deaths of two people, the hospitalization of dozens more, and a shelter-in-place order for those in Nitro and Institute, in Kanawha County.

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection officials, with the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, wasted no time implementing a comprehensive air monitoring plan that will sample air at and around the Ames Goldsmith Catalyst Refiners facility. At the same time, the DEP’s Environmental Enforcement branch is investigating the incident AND the facility. Just as must be the case after mine disasters in West Virginia, other facilities must also be reviewed for whether failure to comply with state or federal rules could have led to the tragedy.

State officials have announced they are also watching how the site handles wastewater. Certainly, Kanawha County has had enough worry about whether there are dangerous chemicals in its water sources.

Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are also investigating the facility, which is a silver recovery business, as the initial determination was that a chemical reaction involved a cleaning process. According to the Associated Press, nitric acid mixed with “another substance” to produce hydrogen sulfide — a deadly asphyxiant.

“This is an unfathomably difficult time,” company President Frank Barber said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and their families.”

Their (and investigators’) minds must also be on getting to the bottom of what happened and making sure it cannot happen again.

Should it be determined the company was lax in following rules and/or could have prevented the incident, it must of course face consequences. But corporate officials and monitoring agencies must also be determined to ensure no such incident is possible again.

West Virginians work in plenty of industries with at least some risk to life and health in the name of getting the job done. Companies, government inspectors and enforcers owe it to them to make sure that risk is as small as possible.