Residents Suing Chemical Producer After Chlorine Leak

Residents in the Proctor area of West Virginia are suing one of the nation’s largest chlorine producers after a cloud of chlorine gas leaked from a railcar inside a company chemical plant.

Attorney Jim Bordas says Saturday’s chlorine leak at the Axiall Corp. plant forced residents from their homes and damaged their properties. The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that about 17,000 gallons of chlorine leaked out.

Officials with Westlake Chemical Corp., which completed a $3.8 billion acquisition of Axiall on Wednesday, didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Intelligencer.

The newspaper reports that Bordas filed in Marshall County Circuit Court on behalf of Tim Bohrer, Rhonda Bohrer, Roy Yoho and Darlene Yoho.