ARDEN, W.Va. — Authorities say one person was killed and a second severely injured in a Tuesday morning explosion at Midland Resources Recovery industrial site in Barbour County. It was the second fatal blast at the facility near Arden in less than a month.
Emergency crews responded to the area at just after 10 a.m., according to a preliminary report from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The person killed was working for contractor Specialized Professional Services. The company was attempting to render the tanks safe following the May 24 explosion that killed two Midland Resources employees and injured a third.
The force of Tuesday’s blast could be felt and heard several miles away, according to area resident Chris Hershman.
“I was at a place called Gypsy’s Arden Garden and sitting at a picnic table out front,” Hershman told MetroNews. “I heard a really loud explosion and the ground shook.”
The restaurant is about a mile from the explosion site.
“You could tell it was not normal, something was going on,” Hershman added. “Pretty soon you could hear emergency responders headed in that direction.”
Preliminary indications to responding emergency crews was the explosion came as the workers were depressurizing the tank. The tank was a 30 gallon vessel and was empty according to information provided to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. The tank was also being disassembled according to the DEP information.
Investigators from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, OSHA, and the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s office are on the scene to start an investigation.
The May 24 explosion killed Midland Resources Recovery President Jan Strmen, 72, of Canada, and employee Justin Marsh, 19, of Philippi.