Institute Plant, West Virginia

One of two major chemical plants operated by Dow Chemical in West Virginia, the Institute plant was originally constructed by the military in 1943 to produce synthetic rubber for the war. In 1947 it was purchased by Union Carbide, which in turn became a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company in 2001. The plant was sold to French manufactor Rhone-Poulenc in 1986, only to be purchased subsequently by Aventis CropScience. Currently the plant is owned by Bayer Corporation, making Union Carbide a tenant. Specialty chemicals are produced here for use in industrial applications (such as leather tanning, biocides, coatings) and consumer products (shampoos, carpeting, crayons, garden hose, antifreeze). Just over a decade ago, the plant attracted attention because it also produced methyl isocyanate, the chemical that was accidentally released at Union Carbide's Bhopal, India plant in 1984, killing an estimated 3,800 people. In 2008 while under the stewardship of Bayer Corporation, a pesticide waste tank explosion occurred which killed two workers.