West Virginia DEP holds public meeting on nickel emissions from Special Metals

HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) — The United States Environmental Protection Agency released a report warning that the hundreds of people who live next to the Special Metals plant in Huntington could be at serious risk of developing “potential lifetime health risks.”

On Tuesday night, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection held a public meeting for those worried about their health after living next to the plant for years.

According to WVDEP Public Information Officer Terry Fletcher, the risk of residents developing lifetime health risks is less than 1%.

“So what we found so far is that EPA uses the highest risk factor for a certain nickel compound, and they use that risk factor for every facility that emits nickel regardless of what type of compound they actually emit. So it’s actually probably a much much lower risk than what EPA identified in their model,” said Fletcher.

More than 50 Huntington residents showed up to voice their concerns to the DEP. While their worries were eased, they were not erased.

Cornelia Palmer was one of the people who showed up for the public meeting. She’s lived next to Special Metals for 5 years, and she wanted to know exactly the risks she faced living next to the plant.

“I thought it was very important for us to come out and get the knowledge to see what they’re findings are and to ask questions, pertinent questions regarding our health related to the nickel emissions,” said Palmer.

The data the EPA used in their report was from an Air Toxicity Screening conducted in 2020. Palmer would like to see an updated report

“I still have some worries. with the findings or the study being done in 2020, and it’s now 2024, I do feel that it could be a higher potential than what they were saying in meetings,” said Palmer.

Fletcher assured the crowd that it was very unlikely that the risk to the public had significantly risen over the last 4 years.

The WVDEP is working with Special Metals to install a fence line air monitoring system around the plant’s perimeter. This would allow officials to accurately detect if any harmful emissions start to come from the plant.

Special Metals General Manager Andy Dale provided a statement to 13 News that said, “The data released in May 2024 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Special Metals’ nickel dust emissions inaccurately assigns a high risk to the Special Metals’ operation. We are not a nickel refinery and do not emit nickel refinery dust as assumed by the EPA. The metals manufactured in Huntington are predominately nickel alloys, and nickel alloy dust is not carcinogenic. We are committed to operating safely and responsibly and continue to remain in
compliance with our federal and state air permits.”

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