In the more than 30 years Ira "Jack" Dabney has golfed at Shawnee Regional Park, in Institute, he's occasionally been there when a chemical plant incident at the nearby industrial park required people to take shelter.
"The maintenance people come out and tell you," Dabney said Friday morning. "It hasn't happened very much - I'd say about five or six times. It doesn't happen that much, but it does happen, absolutely."
Dabney said workers usually tell golfers to leave when that happens.
"I guess we could go inside, but I just take off and go home," he said. "When [there's] lightning or when there's a chemical leak or something, I go."
Dabney, 85, of Cross Lanes, is sort of an unofficial worker at the golf course, where he said he plays nearly every day. He helps with carts and things, and in exchange, he doesn't pay to golf.
So Dabney admitted he's somewhat biased against the proposal to build a multi-sport complex at the park. He doesn't want the Kanawha County Commission to take away his "home" golf course.
In the course clubhouse Friday morning, about 20 pages of signatures from opponents of the proposal sat on a table.
The area has a lot of negatives, like vandalism, drugs and other crimes, Dabney said.
"I just don't think this is probably a very good place for it," he said.
Plans for the complex include four collegiate-sized turf baseball/softball fields, six collegiate turf soccer/lacrosse fields, several grass practice fields, new playgrounds with shelters and parking lots.
The potential for chemical leaks and other issues with the plant, now owned by Dow Chemical, a part of Union Carbide, is one issue opponents have raised about building the complex at the park. The company also faces a lawsuit from West Virginia State University over alleged contamination of the groundwater under the university's campus.
If hundreds of children and their families are at the park at one time for a tournament, could they all get out in time if the fields had to be evacuated? Would there be space enough for everyone to shelter in place if necessary?
A Kanawha County emergency official said when it comes to chemical hazards, tankers and rail cars traveling through the Kanawha Valley likely pose a bigger risk than the chemical plant.
"There's more of a concern of things happening on the highway," like a tanker wrecking on Interstate 64 or a train derailing, said C.W. Sigman, deputy director of Kanawha County's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
"I guarantee the county commission will make sure we have a good safety plan in place" if plans go forward, Sigman said.
He said the threat to people in the area is lower now than when the Institute plant produced methyl isocyanate, or MIC, a chemical that, in 1984 leaked from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, and killed an estimated 15,000 people over the next few years.
Bayer CropScience, then the plant's owner and operator, announced in 2011 it would not resume producing the chemical following a critical report of plant operations from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and a change in the company's marketing strategy.
Besides the existing plant, US Methanol announced in August its plans to dismantle a methanol plant in Brazil and reconstruct it in Institute. Institute also has been considered for the site of a proposed cracker plant.
The plant would use a chemical process to turn methane into pure methanol, a base solution used in paints, plastics, windshield-washer fluid and other chemicals, like formaldehyde, the company told the Gazette-Mail at the time.
Sigman said the addition of the methanol plant does not give him any added concern because it's a liquid, not a gas.
"I'm more worried about the gas escaping," Sigman said.
Sigman said having to shelter in place because of a chemical incident is a rare occurrence that happens maybe once or twice every six or seven years.
The proposed complex would have shelters, Commissioner Ben Salango said. Plans include concession stands, a press box, a community building and the park's existing clubhouse.
"I'm not sure how many people it will hold, but we will take care of it," Salango said.
Sigman said people also can take shelter from chemical leaks in their vehicles with the windows rolled up and the air conditioning off.
Salango said any time there are large numbers of people in one place, there have to be plans for emergencies.
"You've gotta have all that in place, and we will," Salango said.
Sigman said wide-spread evacuations due to chemical leaks are more rare. There are two routes out of the park, Sigman said.
During emergencies like bad weather or chemical incidents or active shooter situations, sirens - some with audio messages - sound throughout the county as a warning. The closest siren to Shawnee is at West Virginia State, though Sigman said adding another at the park is something officials can consider.
They also use an emergency alert system that broadcasts a warning on television and radio and a wireless alert system that sends messages to smartphones in the area. People also can opt into warnings on the county's emergency preparedness application, KCReady.
In 2008, an explosion at the Institute plant killed one worker and led to the death of one other worker a few months later. Sigman said during that event, the effects were limited to inside the plant.
"A lot of people say it did affect them, but there's no evidence of them being affected," Sigman said.
Salango, who proposed the complex, argued at a recent public hearing on the issue that traveling teams from bigger cities like Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Louisville and Lexington, in Kentucky; and Charlotte, North Carolina, would make the three- or four-hour drive to Kanawha County to participate in competitions if there was a nice enough facility. The travel team tournaments would be an economic driver for the area, he said.
Shawnee Park was chosen for the proposal after a 2015 study by the National Association of Sports Commissions and commissioned by the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Friends of Coal Fields at Trace Fork is the only multifield sports complex in the area, the report said.
"Redevelopment of Shawnee Park into a multiple-field, multiple-sport complex would eliminate this issue and provide the [CVB] and its many partners with a powerful economic development tool," the study said.
A representative from the NASC visited sports facilities throughout the region including those at West Virginia State; St. Albans Parks and Recreation Fields; the Dunbar Recreation Center; Little Creek Park, in South Charleston; Appalachian Power Park, in Charleston; South Charleston Community Center; and others.
Salango said he expects a cost estimate for the complex soon, but he expects the work to cost between $10 million and $15 million. The project would be paid for with a combination of fundraising and bonds, Salango said. He said he envisions the county hiring a manager to handle the day-to-day operations at the park and assist in setting up tournaments and bringing in teams.
A board of directors would support the manager, he said.
While the expenses associated with travel sports may limit who participates in them, Salango said he envisions the park being a place all children can use, regardless of income. Little League and recreational teams from the area also can use the space. In addition, many travel teams have financial assistance available for families who otherwise cannot afford it.
Salango said the park's swimming pool would stay if the complex is developed. All that would be affected is the golf course. The proposal also includes upgrades to the park's basketball courts, new playgrounds and shelters, and a walking loop residents can use.
"This is going to be a dramatic improvement to that facility," Salango said. "It's at a cost - we're going to lose a golf course. But I think a lot more people will enjoy that facility."
A second public hearing about the Shawnee Park sports complex proposal is planned for May 16 at West Virginia State, though, as of Friday, an exact time and location had not been established, a worker in the Kanawha County Commission's office said.
Reach Lori Kersey at
lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com,
304-348-1240 or follow
@LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.