A chemical odor and hazy cloud that moved across the Kanawha Valley Friday afternoon appears to have come from a combination of coal-fired power plant emissions, state Department of Environmental Protection investigators believe.

John Benedict, director of the DEP Division of Air Quality, said his agency's inspectors flew over the region in a state helicopter to try to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

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Chris Dorst

A strange odor and possible chemical haze was visible across the valley Friday afternoon.

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"By helicopter observations, it appears the plume from some of the power plants to the northwest of John Amos are kind of lining up and then interacting with the John Amos plume, and causing the pollutant to concentrate," Benedict said late Friday. "I suspect these plumes are lining up and touching down generally in the Charleston area."

AEP spokesman Phil Moye said his company did not believe that the Amos plant was having any operational problems that would have caused the haze.

Moye said company officials believe it is more likely that a "unique weather condition" led to the odor and the haze. AEP officials are cooperating with the DEP investigation, Moye said.

It was still not clear Friday evening exactly what was in the chemical plume, but emergency officials had not called for a shelter in place or other protective measures.

In a prepared statement, the Kanawha County Energy Operations Center advised residents who believed they were being affected to stay indoors and not to hesitate to call 911 for help.

Area hospitals reported no residents complaining of respiratory or other pollution-related health effects.

Elizabeth Scharman, director of the West Virginia Poison Center, agreed that residents who experience problems should simply stay indoors.

"Usually, because of the volume of the air outside, these things become diluted very quickly, and all you really get is the strong smell," Scharman said. "But you're always going to have some people who are especially susceptible."

A chemical odor and hazy cloud that moved across the Kanawha Valley Friday afternoon appears to have come from a combination of coal-fired power plant emissions, state Department of Environmental Protection investigators believe.

John Benedict, director of the DEP Division of Air Quality, said his agency's inspectors flew over the region in a state helicopter to try to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

Those investigators narrowed the source of the haze to an area "in and around" American Electric Power's John Amos Power Plant, across the Kanawha River from Poca, Benedict said.

"By helicopter observations, it appears the plume from some of the power plants to the northwest of John Amos are kind of lining up and then interacting with the John Amos plume, and causing the pollutant to concentrate," Benedict said late Friday. "I suspect these plumes are lining up and touching down generally in the Charleston area."

AEP spokesman Phil Moye said his company did not believe that the Amos plant was having any operational problems that would have caused the haze.

Moye said company officials believe it is more likely that a "unique weather condition" led to the odor and the haze. AEP officials are cooperating with the DEP investigation, Moye said.

It was still not clear Friday evening exactly what was in the chemical plume, but emergency officials had not called for a shelter in place or other protective measures.

In a prepared statement, the Kanawha County Energy Operations Center advised residents who believed they were being affected to stay indoors and not to hesitate to call 911 for help.

Area hospitals reported no residents complaining of respiratory or other pollution-related health effects.

Elizabeth Scharman, director of the West Virginia Poison Center, agreed that residents who experience problems should simply stay indoors.

"Usually, because of the volume of the air outside, these things become diluted very quickly, and all you really get is the strong smell," Scharman said. "But you're always going to have some people who are especially susceptible."

DEP investigators and Kanawha County officials spent much of Friday afternoon trying to pinpoint the source of a chlorine odor and a blue haze that moved across the valley starting shortly after lunchtime.

Carolyn Charnock, director of Metro 911, said her staff began calling area plants after receiving numerous phone calls from residents starting at about 1 p.m.

"We're calling people and they're saying, 'It's not us. It's not us,'" Charnock said. "We don't know a thing.

"This is very frustrating, to have what is clearly an event taking place, to have a haze and smell hanging over the public and not be able to find out what it is," she said.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said complaints about the odor started coming in about 1 p.m. Initially, responders thought the smell and cloud might be connected with a leaking tank car at South Charleston's Dow chemical plant.

Carper said county officials contacted the National Weather Service and representatives for every local member of the chemistry industry. No one took responsibility for the cloud.

"It's not a natural occurrence," he said. "Obviously, it is something."

Charnock said the only report of any problems from an area plant was a "tanker with some loose nuts" at Dow's operations in Institute. Charnock said Dow reported that the tanker was not leaking, however, and was not the source of the smell.

Jennifer Bowman, a Dow spokeswoman, said she was not aware of any Dow tankers having any sorts of problems. She said Dow is confident that none of its operations are the source of the odor.

Benedict said DEP officials were at the Amos plant Friday evening gathering data from the facility's monitoring system, to determine if there were any permit violations.

Benedict said his agency would look into whether there were any problems with the plant's new pollution control equipment.

At AEP's James M. Gavin plant in Cheshire, Ohio, problems with similar pollution control equipment caused a blue plume of sulfuric acid. The condition prompted AEP to buy out most of the town, located across the river from Mason County, W.Va., and settle a lawsuit with other residents.