UPDATE 2/8/11 @ 9 p.m.
INSTITUTE, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Residents of Institute are trying to delay the restart of production of the controversial chemical MIC.

On Tuesday afternoon, lawyer William Depaulo filed a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court in Charleston on behalf of 16 residents in the area.

The restraining order wants to block Bayer from resuming production of MIC until plant inspections are done by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

In its report on the deadly August 2008 explosion at Bayer CropScience, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board is calling for more oversight of chemical plants in Kanawha County.

Specifically, the CSB recommends the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department start a hazardous chemical release prevention program.

The health department would have independent oversight over local plants because the CSB says organizations like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency can't be expected to do it.

Kanawha County Delegate Bobbie Hatfield (D) says, "But then we looked into it. And, no, they don't have the resources. And, that's scary. And, that really scared us."

A similar plan is already in place in Contra Costa County, Calif., where businesses pay fees to keep it going.

"I don't think the problem will be coming up with the fee structure. I think the problem will be gaining a unified support between the three legs of the stool: industry, the public and government," Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper says.

Local officials say setting this program up would require legislative action.

"Well, I'm always concerned about putting fees on businesses. We need businesses; we need workers. We need safe businesses," Hatfield says.

As far as Bayer goes, managers have not indicated whether they support this idea.

"We will carefully review these [recommendations], and we are committed to continue to cooperate with the board regarding the next steps," Bayer CropScience Vice President Steve Hedrick says.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, the executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, says a program like the one proposed is needed.

Gupta says, "The real question is, are people going to play?"

When Contra Costa County started this program, officials say it took a few years to get it fully running. But, they say incidents have dropped significantly.

The explosion killed two workers, injured several more and put a community on lock down.

The U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board issued its final report.

Investigators say Bayer was in a rush to resume producing pesticides equipment wasn't properly checked and employees did not get all the training they needed.

They also say employees would intentionally override a critical safety device, something managers knew was going on.

Investigators also say if the MIC tank stored nearby was hit in the right spot it could have been pierced. MIC is a deadly chemical.

In addition, investigators say more than 2,000 gallons of toxic materials were released on August 28, but the CSB doesn't know exactly what spread into the community because air monitors were not working.

People in the community got the first chance to hear the CSB's final report Thursday night and voice their concerns.

Several of these issues came to light in the months and years following the explosion, but some people are still incredibly frustrated and shocked by what happened.

"It never ceases to shock me, the decision to manually bypass a safety protocol of one of the most dangerous times in a process that could have caused a catastrophe in the Valley," says Maya Nye, with the group People Concerned About MIC.

The incident raised concerns about emergency information getting out to the public, and how that didn't happen like it should have.

“It was really troublesome to see how little information was getting out. And since we work in a chemical plant as well, we're trying to learn from that," says Allen White, chemical plant employee.

Part of that learning comes from what other parts of the country have done.

The CSB is recommending the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department start a prevention program that would have independent oversight over companies.

At the meeting, Bayer CropScience Vice President Steve Hedrick talked about some of the changes the company has made to improve safety at the industrial park, including establishing new communication processes with Metro 911.

Hedrick says, “As a manufacturer, we have an obligation to ensure our operations are conducted under the highest standards of safety. On that night in August, we did not live up to those obligations, or to the expectations of our community.”

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board issues its final report on Thursday and said the blast didn't have to happen.

"The deaths of two workers as a result of this accident were all the more tragic because it could have been prevented," CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said.

CSB investigators say in the moments and days leading up to the blast some serious mistakes were made, prompted by a rush to get the methomyl unit running again so the plant could produce pesticides.

"The startup took place before valves were lined up, before equipment checkouts were done and before computer calibration was complete," Investigations Supervisor John Vorderbrueggen said.

Investigators also say employees weren't trained properly and they would intentionally override a safety device, something the managers knew was going on. Investigators say that was a principal cause of the explosion. The safety interlock would prevent methomyl residue from being fed into the vessel where the explosion happened if the temperature was not right.

The explosion did hit the MIC storage tank near the methomyl unit. MIC is the chemical that killed thousands in Bhopal, India in 1984. Investigators say if the tank had been hit in the right spot it could have been pierced.

"Any significant MIC release into the aatmosphere along the Kanawha valley could have proven deadly, and that concern has been legitimately expressed for decades in the community," Moure-Eraso said.

More than 2,000 gallons of other toxic materials were released in the explosion but the CSB does not know exactly what spread into the community because air monitors were not working.

"Bayer personnel presumed it (air monitoring system) was functioning and based on that presumption claimed that no MIC was released during the incident, I found this to be very disturbing," CSB member John Bresland said.

Moving forward, the CSB is calling for new air monitors. They also are calling for the creation of a "Hazardous Chemical Release Prevention Program." The program would be ran by the W.Va. Department of Health and Human Resources and would be funded by the various chemical plants.

It would operate on a county level and pick up where the EPA and OSHA leave off. Moure-Eraso says the EPA and OSHA are stretched thin and this agency would keep a close eye on chemical plants and routinely inspect them.

Moure-Eraso says a similar program in California has been successful at reducing accidents.

Steve Hedrick, Bayer CropScience Vice President and head of the Institute Industrial Park, issued this statement today. "We have already implemented significant measures to ensure the continued safe operation of our facilities. These measures include improvements in process safety operations, communications, training, monitoring, supervision and equipment."

The CSB is also calling for the elimination of MIC at the plant. Bayer will do that in the next 18 months.

"bayer's decision to end pesticide production using MIC was, as I understand, done for its own business reasons. But for whatever reasons, the eventual elimination of this chemical will enhance safety in the Kanawha Valley," Moure-Eraso says.

The CSB is meeting with the public Thursday evening.

The CSB began the investigation after two workers were killed during an explosion at the Bayer CropScience facility in August 2008.

The CSB investigative team will present their findings on the root causes of the accident to CSB board members and the public. The Board can then question the investigators and then the public will be invited to comment.

Investigators will also present their safety recommendations.

The public meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at West Virginia State University's student union in the Wilson Building.

A spokesperson for the company said they will sit down with metro 911 next week to talk about what worked and what didn't. But county leaders have made it clear that there was a massive communication failure.

WSAZ obtained a letter from the county to Bayer on Friday, claiming that Bayer told emergency crews from all over the western part of the county nothing in the crucial moments following last week's explosion.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said 12 pages of transcripts show Bayer gave little information.

On Friday, Bayer said, "We believe we established the correct communications with metro 911." Site manager Nick Crosby, however, won't give any specifics.

Carper called it a "complete abdication of Bayer’s responsibility to your neighbors and our first responders." Crosby said he is "somewhat surprised to see his (Carper’s) words and will take them into account."

Given several chances, Crosby would only say they established correct communications. He would not answer who they talked with at metro, who called from his plant or even why a guard was tying up an emergency line to give out information they claim they were giving off a recorded line.

One thing Bayer already has said it has learned is that there has clearly been a change in the public’s expectations of communications in these incidents.

In the letter, Carper says Metro 911 "repeatedly asked for information and was refused." He adds that the company did not provide information to the public in a timely manner.

"This was a complete abdication of Bayer's responsibility to your neighbors and our first responders, who were sent uninformed to an explosion because no one was 'allowed' to inform us," wrote Carper.

Carper included the transcripts of the 911 calls made to/from Metro 911 the night of the explosion.

[ click here to read Commissioner Carper's letter to Bayer ]

Bayer issued a response to these calls. Scroll down below the timeline to read the company's statement.

[ click here to read the transcript provided by Metro 911 ]

10:33 PM thursday 8.28	First call to Kanawha County Metro 911 comes in from a resident. County emergency crews are dispatched to the Bayer CropScience Plant in Institute. WSAZ.com obtained recordings of some of the first calls.
10:39 PM thursday 8.28	Metro 911 tried to contact Bayer via telephone. The phone rings 7 times before a guard at the main gate answers and confirms an emergency at the plant.
10:42 PM thursday 8.28	Metro tries to contact Bayer again. The phone rings 7 times before the same guard answers and tells the dispatcher an ambulance is needed for a burn patient. The employee says he can't give more information. Police close Route 25.
10:45 PM thursday 8.28	WSAZ.com confirms the explosion with Metro 911 dispatchers and a story is posted to this site.
11:07 PM thursday 8.28	WSAZ's crew arrives at the scene and takes the first picture via cell phone and shows it on the air (click on image to enlarge)
11:12 PM thursday 8.28	WSAZ e-Reporter Johnny Walls of St. Albans captures video of the fire and sends it to the station where it is immediately played on the air. (click on link to watch the video)	click here to watch the clip (WMV)
11:15 PM thursday 8.28	A guard at the main gate at Bayer calls 911 and speaks with a supervisor at Metro. He says he has been trying to call, but had trouble getting through. He says Metro should alert the community to an emergency at the plant.
11:32 PM thursday 8.28	County leaders activate the Emergency Alert System (EAS), prompting a shelter in place for the cities located around the plant. It spans from South Charleston to Nitro.
11:34 PM thursday 8.28	A guard at the main gate at Bayer calls 911 again and informs the dispatcher that the plant is still in "emergency condition" and the community should remain alerted.
12:06 AM friday 8.29	A guard at the main gate at Bayer calls 911 and tells the dispatcher the plant remains in an emergency response condition. He says a representative from Bayer is on the way to Metro's EOC.
12:40 AM friday 8.29	The guard at the main gate at Bayer calls 911 to give an update. He says the plant is still in an emergency response condition.
12:40 AM friday 8.29	Metro sends out a notification to media organizations advising that the shelter in place remains in effect, and that I-64 is shut down in both directions near Institute.
1:12 AM friday 8.29	The guard at the main gate at Bayer calls 911 to give another update. He says the plant's response team is "responding to our emergency" and that the plant remains in an emergency response condition.
1:18 AM friday 8.29	Metro 911 extends the shelter in place warning for the areas surround the Bayer Plant. This includes South Charleston, Dunbar, Jefferson, St. Albans, Nitro, Cross Lanes, and Institute.
1:21 AM friday 8.29	WSAZ.com contacts West Virginia State Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis. He says there is a possibility of more explosions at the plant. He confirms one person is burned, another missing.
1:40 AM friday 8.29	Mike Wey, spokesperson for Bayer, holds a news conference. He says the fire is still burning, but it's contained. He also says the chemical involved is a non-toxic waste product.
1:43 AM friday 8.29	The guard at the main gate at Bayer calls 911 to inform Metro that the plant's emergency team is still responding to the emergency.
2:01 AM friday 8.29	County leaders cancel the shelter in place warning for western Kanawha County and reopen Interstate 64.
3:01 AM friday 8.29	The guard at Bayer's main gate calls 911 to inform Metro that their response has "things under control," but that the plant is still in an alarm state.
3:33 AM friday 8.29	The guard at Bayer's main gate calls 911 and tells the dispatcher that there is still an alarm going on at the plant and their emergency squad is on the scene.
5:50 AM friday 8.29	The guard at the main gate at Bayer calls 911 and tells the dispatcher that there is an all clear except for the Larvin unit.

[ click here to download one MP3 file containing all of the calls ]

On Thursday, Kanawha County Metro 911 released recordings of the calls between Bayer and the 911 center. The recordings start at 10:39 p.m. last Thursday after the explosion happened, and run through 5:50 a.m. Friday morning.

[ click here to read the transcript provided by Metro 911 ]

Call after call, a person who says he's a guard at the front gate at the Bayer Plant tells Metro 911 that there is an emergency at the plant and he hasn't been authorized to release any more information.

"My supervisor informed me to tell you to uh alert the community that there is an emergency uh in the plant right now," said the guard at Bayer.

Commissioner Dave Hardy calls the information provided by Bayer following the blast unacceptable. He says Bayer needed to let Metro know as much as possible so that the county could provide the proper response.

Late Friday, Bayer issued this statement about the recordings:

"We shared all available information with Metro 911 as that information became available over the course of the incident.

The transcripts of the calls to Metro 911 which were released today represent only a portion of the communication between Bayer CropScience and emergency response officials during this event.

A number of other contacts were made over the course of the event to the Office of Emergency Services, indicating the nature of the event and providing more details.

Further, there were several county and state emergency services representatives present in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Bayer CropScience Institute site. These personnel had full access to all information pertaining to the incident.

Also, when requested by Metro 911, we had two people from our site go to the mobile command center and had another liaison dispatched to the Metro 911 Operations Center on Corridor G.

We fully support and count on the 911 system and, together with the media, we count on them to carry important messages to the public.

We will continue to work with Metro 911 to improve our information flow. As part of this commitment, we will be actively participating with them in the critique next week."

We are continuing to add more information to this story as we dig through the data and talk with more county and Bayer officials. We will also add the recordings. Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more information.

The chairman of the board, John Bresland, says the purpose is to make recommendations to the company, OSHA, the Environmental Protection Agency and the county about what can be done to keep an incident like this from happening again.

They'll examine the accident site and talk to employees and managers at the plant. Their recommendations will not be mandates for the company, but suggestions.

The board will hold public meetings on the findings.

UPDATE @ 1:14pm Saturday
WSAZ.com has obtained some of the first 911 calls to Kanawha County Metro 911 following Thursday's explosion at the Bayer Plant in Institute.

Click here to listen to five calls released by Metro (MP3 / 1.42MB / 4:08)
NOTE: the calls have been edited to remove personal information (names, addresses, phone numbers)

Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for the latest information.

Click on the link above to watch the video.

Broken glass and caution tape are two signs that Thursday night’s explosion reached far beyond the confines of the Institute plant.

Jill Oliver of Oliver Oils and Fuels had some glass shattered at her business from the explosion, but knows what she lost can be replaced.

"I hated that that man lost his life," she said Friday, referring to Barry Withrow, the Bayer CropScience employee who was killed. "There is a family that is grieving the loss of a loved one right now."

Investigators said they will thoroughly sift through the scene to determine what happened.

"We will pull this apart with a toothpick and, until we can flush out the real cause of it, we are not going to start that unit again," said Nick Crosby of Bayer CropScience.

The unit is located on the west end of the plant. Crosby said there was no indication of trouble.

"It was running, it was producing product, it was normal," he said. "Things were progressing well."

But in a split second that changed. Flames started shooting at least 100 feet in the air when a chemical residue ignited.

"I know there was some concern about offsite air pollution," Crosby said. "We monitor the pollution, and we found no evidence of any chemicals or injuries or harm to people."

Crosby put things in perspective at a news conference Friday, saying that people are safer working inside their chemical site than they are crossing the road. Investigators from both the state and federal government are now investigating, and the investigation could take several days.

Metro also tells WSAZ.com that for the first time employees can remember, so many 911 calls came into the center that the lines were overloaded, causing some people to get a message saying, "all circuits are busy."

There was also a problem with the information line that Metro 911 set up at its emergency operations center (EOC) for residents to call in and ask questions. County officials tell us some sort of glitch caused only one line to work at one, causing most callers to get a busy signal. A phone technician had the problem repaired by about 3:00 a.m.

Officials say the 1993 explosion occurred during the initial part of the process, while Thursday night's explosion happened at the end part. They say the company spent millions of dollars to correct the 1993 problem, and will do the same to correct whatever caused the most recent explosion.

WEB EXTRA: watch our coverage of the 1993 explosion. Click on the video links above.

According to the news release, the CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents.

State Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kathy Cosco says that the chemical primarily involved in the fire was methyl isobutyl ketone.

Methyl isobutyl ketone, also called MIBK, is used in the production of the insecticide Larvin.

Cosco says the chemical isn't particularly toxic but highly flammable.

The company says air monitoring found no signs of chemical exposure, either on or off site.

Bayer also produces methyl isocyanate -- or MIC -- which killed at least 15,000 people in a leak in Bhopal, India, in 1984. But Petry said that chemical is stored in steel-wrapped underground containers located far from the blast site.

The explosion occurred at about 10:25 p.m. and could be felt miles away. The fire was extinguished at about 2 a.m.

The cause hasn't been determined.

Bayer says its last accident at that plant was at least two years ago.

Officials say the shelter in place was issued for precautionary reasons, and no toxic chemicals were released.

Chris says Barry was from St. Albans and worked at the plant for more than 20 years. Barry was working overtime Thursday night, according to Chris. The last time Chris spoke to Barry was Tuesday night while Barry was at work.

Bayer spokesman Mike Wey says the explosion occurred about 10:25 p.m. Thursday. The explosion, which witnesses say sent a fireball hundreds of feet into the air, ignited waste residue in a section of the plant that produces insecticides.

Wey says the injured worker suffered burns and was transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment. Wey said both workers are senior employees at the plant.

He said a search for the missing worker won't be conducted until the fire is extinguished.

The plant is located about 10 miles west of Charleston.

Crews are going to assess the situation before going in to look for the missing worker.

Wey confirms that one man was burned and is being taken to a burn center in Pittsburgh. Another worker is still missing. Wey says both have worked with the company for some time.

Wey says a waste product appears to be what exploded. It's a very flammable product. Wey says it was NOT Larvin. He says the product released to the area after the explosion is not toxic.

Eight operators were working in the area where the explosion happened--six of them were in a safe area and were not hurt.

Metro 911 says I-64 is closed in both directions near Institute. It's shut down in the west bound lanes at the Dunbar exit--and at the Nitro exit east bound.

Right now, there is now word about school Friday.

Anyone wanting more information should call the EOC at Metro 911: (304) 746-8828.

DUE TO AN EXPLOSION AT THE BAYER CROP SCIENCE PLANT IN INSTITUTE...A SHELTER IN PLACE HAS BEEN ISSUED BY METRO 911 FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...SOUTH CHARLESTON...DUNBAR...JEFFERSON...SAINT ALBANS...NITRO...CROSS LANES...AND INSTITUTE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. EMERGENCY OFFICIALS ARE ON THE SCENE.

ALL PERSONS IN THE AFFECTED AREAS SHOULD REMAIN INSIDE THEIR HOMES OR SOME OTHER CLOSED BUILDING. AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT WILL INSTRUCT YOU WHEN IT IS SAFE TO LEAVE. TURN ON YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY DETAILS.

Reports indicate that fire is shooting into the air from the plant.

911 dispatchers say people should stay in their homes and stay clear of the area.

Route 25 is shut down at this time.

WSAZ has a crew on the way to the scene. Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more information.