WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today four House and Senate committee and subcommittee chairmen sent a letter to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board requesting an examination of whether Bayer CropScience’s continued use of the highly toxic chemical, methyl isocyanate (MIC), can be justified in light of ongoing health and safety risks to company employees, emergency first responders, and the public.

The request was made by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Rep. Bart Stupak, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Rep. Edward J. Markey, Chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee.

The Chairmen asked the Chemical Safety Board to use its broad authority to examine “options for Bayer to reduce or eliminate the use or storage of MIC at its West Virginia facility by switching to alternative chemicals or processes and the estimated cost of these alternatives.”  The Chairmen also asked the Board to determine if the company has adequately assessed the feasibility of these alternatives.

Congress has been investigating the events surrounding an August 28, 2008, explosion at Bayer’s chemical plant in Institute, West Virginia, that occurred only 80 feet from an 18-ton storage tank of MIC and could have resulted in massive fatalities.  A hearing convened by Rep. Bart Stupak, Chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, on April 21 revealed that Bayer engaged in a “campaign of secrecy” to conceal information from federal investigators, first responders, the media, and the public.

“Our Committees intend to continue rigorous oversight of this issue, and we may hold additional hearings at the conclusion of your investigation,” said the Chairmen in the letter to the Chemical Safety Board.

In 1984, MIC leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killing approximately 4,000 people and injuring thousands more.  After that tragedy, another chemical company, DuPont, changed its manufacturing processes to eliminate large stockpiles of MIC at its facilities.  Bayer did not do the same, however, and its plant in West Virginia remains the only chemical facility in the United States that still uses and stores large volumes of this deadly chemical.

Please see the attached letter below.

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